I Can't Help Falling In Love With You
by foreverXabby
Summary: after a year away from Mysic Falls, Damon Salvatore is back. but there's something off about him- Damon is a changed man. this leaves everyone wondering what happened during that year away. their answer can be found in a human girl named Charlie. DS/OC AU
1. prologue

_Wise men say,_

_Only fools rush in,_

_But I can't help falling in love with you,_

Damon listened to the beeps of the machines that were just barely keeping her alive. He wasn't allowed in her room, though he so desperately wanted to be. He wanted to be right by her side, and hold her hand. But there was no way her mother would allow him near her, now that she wasn't conscious to dismiss her words.

They rushed into this- one of the many reasons her mother was so against their relationship- but it wasn't like they had all the time in the world. Besides, he loved her. Damon loved that girl so damn much, if he lost her, it would kill him. He wouldn't be dead physically, but he'd be dead on the inside.

_Shall I stay,  
>would it be a sin,<br>oh, but I can't help falling in love with you,_

"What are you still doing here?" Damon didn't take his eyes off of the girl in the hospital bed. She looked so pale, too pale. He ached to be next to her, but instead he was stuck gazing at her through the glass window.

"Haven't you done enough already?" the middle-aged woman with tear streaked cheeks snapped at him. "Why can't you just leave her alone?"

Damon didn't look at her mother; he was in no mood to deal with her. If he wasn't careful, he would snap and kill the woman glaring at him, and then the love of his life would hate him forever. He couldn't have that.

"Just because you hate me doesn't mean that I don't love her," he said in a dead voice. "I can't leave her. Even if you won't let me see her, I'm not leaving. So just deal with it and get back to your daughter."

_Like a river flows surely to the sea, _

_Darling so it goes, _

_Something's are meant to be,_

She huffed, and walked back to her daughter. She was in no mood to fight with him either. Damon watched as she talked to her daughter, smoothing down her dark brown hair. His fingers ached to be doing that, to be telling her nonsense.

Damon wasn't a believer in all that fate and destiny shit. But it seemed too good to be true, that he ever met her. It was as if everything he'd gone through- the good and the bad- was to get to her. It was as if they were meant to be.

He shook his head slightly, knowing that it was all too good to be true. She was too good for him, always had been. The universe was punishing if for every bad thing he'd done, every life he ended, every heart he broke. This was his punishment; they were taking her away from him.

_Take my hand,_

_Take my whole life too,_

_Cause I can't help falling in love with you,_

It was a scary thought for him, needing somebody so badly that losing them could shatter you into a million pieces. It was so unlike him, being so vulnerable like this. He blamed her. He blamed her for changing him, for bringing out his humanity. He blamed her for making him feel human, and in turn, making him feels all this pain.

"Damon."

Damon didn't move from his spot at the window, as his brother joined him. Stefan didn't say a word; he was just there for his big brother. Damon appreciated it- he blamed her too, for fixing his relationship with Stefan. It wasn't like when they were human- it would never be like when they were human- but at least they were brothers again.

_Like a river flows so surely to the sea,_

_Oh my darling so it goes,_

_Some things are meant to be,_

"You should go in there. She would want you to be with her." Stefan said quietly, after a few minutes.

"I can't, her mom barely let me into the hospital, let alone her room." Damon said in the same dead voice he had used since he found out what had happened.

Silence followed their words, until Stefan said, "Why don't you just… change her. It's not looking good, Damon."

Damon closed his eyes, his brother's words hitting his heart. He was right; Damon was so close to losing the love of his life. It killed him, ate him up inside like a disease.

"She… I don't know if she wants me to. But I-I can't lose her Stefan. I can't do it. Even if she'll hate me the rest of eternity, I can't let her die." Damon admitted, torn.

Stefan didn't respond, his brother's voice so heartbreaking. He wished that there was something, anything, he could do. But wasn't a supernatural problem. This was just life and shitty luck.

_So won't you please take my hand, _

_And take my whole life too,_

_Cause I can't help falling in love, in love with you_

_Cause I can't help falling in love, falling in love,_

Slowly, Damon walked into her hospital bedroom. Her mother glared at him, holding her pale hand in her own. Damon ignored her, and sat on his love's other side.

His eyes hungrily scanned her face, memorizing every detail. Every freckle, every scar. How her top lip was fuller than her bottom one. The very vague bruise on her forehead, from when she walked into a wall just a week ago. Damon took in every detail about her, afraid that he might never see them again.

He thought about the other details about her, ones that he couldn't see. Her warm hazel eyes, her toothy grin, how she always smiled when she blushed. Not to forget her stubbornness and loyalty, and loving she was. She was perfect in his eyes, she always hated it when he called her that- perfect- but it was true, at least to him.

"I love you," he breathed so quietly, that her mother couldn't hear him.

Damon sighed and closed his eyes. They had talked about her becoming a vampire, but it always ended in fighting. It hurt him that she wasn't so sure that she wanted to spend eternity with him. Though she was always quick to remind him that that wasn't her problem with becoming a vampire. It was leaving her family- she loved her family.

But now, she would die if he didn't change her. Damon was torn between selfishness and obeying his lover's wishes. He loved her more than he had every loved anything in his life, but did he love her enough to be selfless with her?

Damon squeezed her hand gently, kissing it softly. He was knew what he wanted to do, but he didn't know what she wanted. Ignoring her mother, Damon pushed her dark hair out of her face and whispered into her ear nonsense, about how much he loved her. How much he would always love her, no matter what happened.

_I keep falling in love with you_

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **this is a story that I've had floating around my head for months. Be aware, that it ranks below my other stories on my list of priorities, and I won't be updating every day like my other ones. Maybe once a week, if even. Oh, and this prologue takes place in the future of the story.

The song that is the inspiration for this prologue and the story is Can't Help Falling in Love by Elvis, but I prefer the version by Ingrid Michaelson.

Reviews are encouraged and appreciated :)

~Abby!


	2. what doesn't kill you makes you stronger

**Disclaimer: I only own my story and any characters not recognized. The rest belong to their rightful owners.**

Chapter one

"_What doesn't kill you makes you stronger"- Stronger by Kelly Clarkson_

Stefan was just barely alive.

He was lucky, so damn lucky that his attacker had missed his heart. But he had to be careful, the stake was a mere half an inch away from his heart. If he moved the wrong way, it might go into it.

Stefan groaned in pain, as the stake lodged into his stomach dug in deeper. Who was his attacker? A human? A vampire? Everything in Mystic Falls had been normal since Damon had left almost a year ago. And now Stefan was left for dead on the side of a road.

Carefully, he reached to take out the stake rubbing against his heart. With a cry of agony, he pulled it out. With that stake gone, Stefan pulled out the one in his stomach and the one in his back.

He was still weak, very weak. He tried to stand up, but just fell to his knees. Stefan needed blood, but would animal blood really help him? He couldn't drink human blood- he'd tried that so many times before, it never ended well.

The glow of headlights brought Stefan out of his thoughts, as a car slowly crept down the dark road. It stopped in front of him, and he saw Bonnie behind the wheel.

"Stefan?" she asked, her eyebrows furrowed. Then her eyes widened when she saw him. "Oh my god! What happened?"

"A-attacked." He mumbled, as she rushed to help him.

"Who attacked you?" she demanded, pulling out her cellphone. "Let me call Elena."

Stefan half listened as Bonnie talked to Elena. He heard his girlfriend's frantic voice, and then heard another car pull up to them. Bonnie and Elena managed to get him into Elena's car, and get him back to his house. By the time they dumped him onto the couch, he was unconscious.

Elena bit her lip, tears forming in her brown eyes. She didn't know what to do, who to call. She turned to Bonnie, who was staring back at her.

"What do we do?" she asked quietly, sitting down beside Stefan. His wounds should've been healing by now, but they weren't. He needed blood.

"Alaric maybe?" Bonnie suggested, and Elena nodded. That would be the best option.

A half an hour later, Alaric was over. He managed to move Stefan to his room, and pull out several vervain darts that the girls hadn't seen. He inspected Stefan's wounds, while Elena stayed by her boyfriend's side.

"Whoever did this to him staked him in the stomach, back, and chest. Stefan was lucky- it looks like they just missed his heart." Alaric said, stepping away from the vampire.

"What can I do?" Elena asked, brushing a tear off of her cheek. She was so scared to lose Stefan.

"He needs blood, or he's going to die." Alaric said bluntly. Elena made a slight face, but nodded in determination. She would get animal blood for Stefan if she had to.

"Once he has blood, he'll start to heal. It will take him longer, since he'll be drinking animal blood, but he should be okay." Alaric said, and Elena sighed in relief.

"Okay, thank you so much, Alaric." She said, and he smiled sympathetically at her.

"No problem, Elena. I'm glad that Stefan's okay." He said, as she walked him out of the house.

"Wait, don't you think you should call him?" Alaric said, pausing at the threshold of the front door.

Elena glowered at the floor. "He wouldn't care." She said bitterly.

"It's his little brother, Elena. He deserves to know." Alaric insisted.

"He wouldn't care, Alaric. It would be a waste of time." Elena snapped.

"Maybe, but at least try. He deserves to know, Elena." Alaric repeated, before leaving.

Elena sighed, thinking about his words as she returned to Stefan. She didn't want to call him, but he was his brother. Stefan would want to know if he got hurt. She shook her head, before walking into Stefan's room. She would think about it more when Stefan was awake.

A few days later, Stefan was conscious. He was still weak though, and the only thing keeping him alive was the animal blood. He had no idea who attacked him, and Elena was afraid that his attacker would try to finish what they started.

After recruiting Caroline to get Stefan's blood for him, Elena waited in the car while the blonde vampire hunted down animals. She stared at her cellphone, biting her lip. She was torn; she didn't know what to do.

Taking a deep breath, Elena dialed his number. She didn't know what she would say to him, but she had decided that Stefan was his brother, so he deserved to know what had happened.

After the phone rang five times, Elena got his voicemail. She sighed, and then said, "It's Elena. I don't expect anything from you, but I just thought you should know that Stefan was attacked a few days ago. He almost died. He's okay now, though. Anyway, I just thought you should know."

Caroline came back into the car a few bottles of animal blood in her hands. She raised an eyebrow at Elena. "You called him didn't you?" she accused.

The brunette sighed. "I got his voicemail." She muttered, starting her car.

"He's not going to do anything, Elena. You know that." Caroline said, and Elena nodded.

"I know he won't, but he deserved to know Caroline. I did all I could do, and now it's up to him." Elena said, driving to Stefan's.

Three days passed with no phone calls, but Elena expected nothing less from him. She didn't tell Stefan that she called his brother, and slowly, Stefan was getting better. He could get out of his bed, and things were starting to get back to normal again.

Elena was glad that he didn't show up, didn't call. It was a mistake, that she called him in the first place. A week after Stefan's attack, Elena was warming up his blood for him, while her boyfriend relaxed on the couch.

Suddenly, Elena heard the front door slam open, and she froze. Was Stefan's attacker back? Were they here to kill both of them?

Forgetting about Stefan's animal blood, she ran back to him. Elena stopped running when she saw Stefan staring wide eyed at the door. Her eyes drifted to where he was staring, and then she froze in shock.

"Hello brother. Miss me?"

Damon Salvatore was back.

**A/N: **this was a little short, but it'll get longer. I promise.

Reviews are appreciated!

~Abby :)


	3. we found love in a hopeless place

Chapter two

"_We found love in a hopeless place"- We Found Love by Rihanna_

Damon Salvatore was back, but he wasn't the same.

That was obvious to everyone. Damon tried to act like the man who left Mystic Falls eleven months ago, but his effort was obvious. The fact that Damon even came back when he found out that Stefan had been attacked showed that he had changed.

"What are you doing here, Damon?" Stefan asked his brother, as Damon walked towards the stairs with his bags.

"You were attacked, weren't you?" Damon asked with a raised eyebrow, pausing at the stairs.

"Why would you care?" Elena asked bluntly.

Damon's icy blue eyes trained on her, and that's when another change in Damon became obvious. He didn't wink at her, or undress her with his eyes. he just looked at her like she was a normal person.

"Because If anyone is going to kill Stefan, It's me. I reserved that right, it's mine. so if anyone tries to take that away from me, I take it personally." Damon said casually, walking up the steps to his room.

Stefan turned his gaze onto his girlfriend. "You called him, didn't you?" he accused, frowning at her.

Elena sighed. "I thought he deserved to know. I never thought that he would actually come back." she said, walking back to get Stefan's blood for him.

They weren't the only ones surprised by Damon's sudden return, or change of attitude. The next day, when Bonnie and Caroline came to pick Elena up for school, they found out that Damon was back in town.

"But why?" Bonnie asked, as they walked to her car.

Elena shrugged. "I don't know. But, he's different. He changed." She said.

"That could just be Damon trying to trick us," Caroline argued. "It's not like he hasn't tried before."

"no, because he was trying really hard to act like old Damon." Elena argued, before sighing. She had no idea what was up with Damon.

Stefan managed to make it his brother's bedroom door, but it took some effort. He wanted to know why he was back. not for a second did Stefan believe that Damon was back for him. it wasn't possible.

"-I don't know when I'll be back." Stefan heard Damon say, and looked through the crack in the door to see his brother talking on the phone.

"No, I don't want you travelling. Besides, it's too dangerous here. I don't know what's running around town, but I don't want you caught in the middle." Damon said to the person on the other line.

Stefan couldn't hear what the other person said, for he was still too weak, but Damon sighed. "No, I haven't told them yet. I will, I promise." He said.

Stefan heard mumbling on the other line and then Damon said, "I l-" he stopped suddenly.

"It's rude to eavesdrop, Stefan." Damon called out to his brother.

Stefan sighed, and walked into Damon's room, just as he muttered, "I'll call you later." Into the phone, and then hung up.

"Who were you talking to?" Stefan asked his brother curiously.

"Don't worry about it." Damon smirked at his little brother.

"Why are you back?" Stefan asked again, and Damon sighed in annoyance.

"I told you already- I'm here to kill whatever jackass attacked you." Damon muttered, putting his phone in his pocket.

Stefan suddenly noticed a chain around his brother's neck, but whatever was on the chain was tucked into his shirt. "Funny, how I don't believe you." Stefan said dryly.

Damon just shrugged. "Doesn't matter if you believe me or not. Just remember to thank me when whoever attacked you is dead." Damon said, before grabbing his jacket and walking out the door.

Stefan watched his brother leave, adding their conversation to the list of things different about Damon. Stefan could almost fool himself into believing that his brother cared about him. he wondered again, what the hell happened to Damon his year away.

* * *

><p>Another different thing about Damon, was the fact that no sorority girls had stepped foot into the Salvatore Boarding house his first week back. in fact, he didn't flirt with anyone. There were also no missing people in Mystic Falls or the towns surrounding them. Yet another change in Damon Salvatore.<p>

The only things Damon really did his first week back was try to figure out who attacked his brother. He had recruited Alaric for that, and even though it was his idea in the first place, to have Damon be told about Stefan's attack, Alaric wasn't too thrilled that Damon was back.

"I think I have a lead," Damon told Alaric abruptly, as the teacher graded papers at the Grill.

"Why are you telling me?" he said irritably, as the vampire sat down next to him. "In case you forgot, we're not friends. I don't like you."

"Oh, come on Ric." Damon said cheerfully. "Just come and check it out with me. for old time's sake."

Alaric groaned, but agreed to. The teacher noticed the chain around Damon's neck, and raised an eyebrow. "What's that?" he asked, as they walked out of the bar.

Damon looked down at the chain, and touched it. He shrugged, and tucked it under his shirt more. "Long story." He said evasively.

They drove out of town in silence, Alaric thinking about the obvious changes in the vampire next to him. a part of didn't really want to know what had changed Damon, but he couldn't help but be curious.

"so, what's this lead you got?" Alaric asked finally.

"I've been thinking about what the person was, who attacked Stefan. If it was a vampire, or a vampire hunter-" Damon smirked at Alaric, who rolled his eyes. "But I was thinking, what if it was none of the above?"

Alaric raised his eyebrows, but Damon didn't explain any further, as the pulled up to a small cottage in the middle of nowhere. He followed the vampire apprehensively to the cottage door. Damon didn't knock, but instead, pushed the door off of its hinges.

Damon walked into the house- meaning that there were no alive human owners of the cottage. Alaric followed him into the silent cottage, with no sign of any life. Damon led the semi-retired vampire hunter down to the basement.

"Damon, do you even know if there's anything-" Alaric was cut off, when Damon gestured to a wall with chains hanging off of it. The vampire smirked at him, as it dawned on Alaric what Damon was thinking.

"Werewolves."

* * *

><p>Elena and Stefan were back at the boarding house, and Stefan was almost completely healed. The couple were talking about what could possibly be up with Damon, but they could really come up with a plausible answer.<p>

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, and both of them went to answer it. Stefan opened the door to reveal a young woman in her low twenties. She was pretty, with dark brown hair, hazel eyes, and freckles galore. She beamed when she saw Stefan and Elena.

"You must be Stefan!" the woman exclaimed with a slight British accent. "I've heard so much about you. Are you feeling any better?"

Stefan nodded slowly, his eyebrows furrowed. The girl turned to Elena, and beamed at her too. "Elena, right? I've heard about you too."

"Excuse me," Stefan interrupted her excited babbling. "But who are you?"

The girl instantly frowned, her hazel eyes darkening to brown. "You… don't know who I am?" she asked, sounding hurt.

Elena and Stefan shook their heads. The woman huffed, before raising her left hand. On her ring finger, there was a beautiful diamond wedding ring.

"I'm Charlie, Damon's wife."

**A/N: **thank you to: Silently Tearful for the first review of the story!

Reviews are much appreciated!

~Abby :)


	4. i have loved you for a thousand years

Chapter three

"_I have loved you for a thousand years."- A thousand years by Christina Perri_

_Kingston, New York_

_One year ago_

_Charlie walked away from her laughing friends, all sitting at a booth at a college bar. She walked to the bar, and ordered five beers and a coke for herself. Charlie didn't drink- she couldn't drink._

"_Hello there."_

_Charlie looked over to her right, to see a man with ice blue eyes smirking at her. He was handsome, and around her age. But he was drunk- or at least, on his way to being drunk._

"_Hi." She said politely, tossing her brown hair over her shoulder. _

"_What's your name?" the man pressed, and Charlie sighed. She wasn't one to talk to the local drunks- no matter how cute they were- and this man seemed… dangerous. Still, her mum had raised her to be polite._

"_Charlie Mathews." She responded, tapping her fingers impatiently while waiting for her drinks. "Yours?"_

_The man smirked at her. "Damon Salvatore."_

"What?" Stefan and Elena exclaimed, while Charlie gazed down at her wedding ring. Damon had picked it out himself, and she loved it. It wasn't over the top, but it wasn't small either. It was perfect, showing that her husband knew her taste.

"Damon and I are married- have been for four months now." Charlie said; mad at Damon for telling them about their marriage. He promised that he would, yet Stefan and Elena had no idea that she even existed.

"No way." Elena shook her head. Charlie smiled sympathetically- even she used to think that Damon Salvatore wasn't the marrying type. And then he proposed to her.

"Do you know where Damon is?" Charlie asked, pushing her hair out of her face. She was going to kick her husband's ass for keeping her a secret- even if he was a vampire and she was a human.

Stefan slowly shook his head, staring at his sister-in-law. "I just… I don't believe it." He whispered, as Charlie pulled her jacket tighter around her small frame.

"Can I come in? It's really cold out here." Charlie said, picking up her bags. Stefan and Elena let her into the house, all the while staring at Charlie like they still didn't really believe she was telling the truth.

But it was true; Charlie Mathews- now Charlie Salvatore- fell in love with Damon Salvatore, and then they got married.

When Damon pulled up to his house with Alaric still in the passenger seat, and saw the red '72 Chevy truck parked terribly, he cursed. Alaric gave him a weird look, but Damon ignored him and walked into his house.

He had told Charlie not to come, that it wasn't safe for her here, and that she shouldn't be driving by herself for a long time. But did Charlie ever listen? No. he found it sexy and irritating at the same time.

He walked into house, to find his wife talking with a stunned Stefan and Elena. He ignored them, and stared straight at Charlie. She glared back, clearly mad at him.

"Did you forget to tell your brother and his girlfriend something, Damon?" she asked sarcastically, her hazel eyes narrowed in anger.

Damon sighed- he knew what she was talking about. Their marriage. He hadn't told anyone yet, and his ring was currently on a chain around his neck. He was going to be in big trouble for that one.

"I thought I told you not to come. It's not safe for you right now, Charlie. There are werewolves running around, and the full moon is in three days. Plus, it's a seven and a half hour drive- how did you pull that by yourself?" Damon said, and Charlie rolled her eyes.

"At least I didn't hide our marriage!" she retorted. Damon's eyes widened in alert- she shouldn't be getting worked up like this. It wasn't good for her.

"Charlie, calm down." He ordered, but Charlie just glared. She marched out of the room, just as Alaric showed up. Damon followed his wife into one of the many rooms in his house.

"Char, calm down." He repeated, as she turned her back on him.

"I will _not _calm down, Damon." she snarled, breathing heavily.

"Charlie, calm _down." _Damon said firmly, turning his wife around so that they were face to face. She sighed, and took deep breaths. It wasn't good for her, to get angry like that.

"I'm still angry at you." She told him, before walking out of the room on him.

Damon sighed, knowing that Charlie wasn't very forgiving. But he pissed her off on a daily basis, and she always forgave him by the time she fell asleep. He was the exception.

Charlie counted down from ten to calm down her anger. She pushed her dark curls out of her face, as she joined Stefan, Elena, and another man back in the living room. _Ten, nine, eight, _she thought, playing with her wedding ring.

"Hello," she said politely to the new man. "I'm Charlie." She introduced herself.

"Alaric," he responded, shaking her offered hand.

Damon appeared at his wife's side, but knew better than to wrap his arm around her waist, like he usually would. "Hey Ric, I see you met my wife." He said cheerfully. He gave Charlie a smirk, but she just frowned at him.

"Too late, Damon." she mumbled, moving away from him.

"Wife?" Alaric repeated with wide eyes. '"You got married?"

"Yep," Damon said, pulling off his chain with a snap, and putting his ring back on.

Charlie sighed and rolled her eyes. _Seven, six, five, four, _she counted in her head. "I was drunk when I said yes," she mumbled, and Damon just rolled her eyes.

"She loves me." he told Alaric, Elena, and Stefan. They all looked frozen in shock that Damon Salvatore was married.

Charlie walked away from the group of people, counting, _three, two, one, zero, _in her head as she did. Damon grabbed her bags and followed his wife up to his room. He was glad that she had finally calmed down, but knew that he wasn't out of the woods yet.

"I can't believe that you didn't tell them about us!" Charlie exclaimed, as soon as Damon shut the door behind them.

She angrily took her bags away from him, her hazel eyes turning dark brown in anger. Charlie roughly set a bag on his bed, and pulled out a pair of his boxers and one of his shirts- her pajamas. It was only eight at night, but Damon knew that driving from New York to Virginia tired her out.

"I mean, how do you not share the fact that you're married? I told everyone the second you proposed, even my mother. And my mother loathes you." Charlie continued, stripping down. Damon groaned slightly- she was deliberately getting naked in front of him, when he knew that they wouldn't be having sex that night.

"Charlie, you don't know them." Damon sighed, as she pulled on his shirt, the hem of it just brushing the middle of her thigh. "They wouldn't believe me. Besides, why does it matter if they know or not?"

"It matters to me." Charlie frowned, pulling her dark locks up on top of her head. "Go away, I'm tired." She mumbled, getting into his bed.

Damon sighed, knowing that he was kicked out of bed. It wasn't the first time. But he never ended up spending the night on the couch, for Charlie hated sleeping alone. He shut off the lights for her, and mumbled, "I love you, Char," Before he walked out of his bedroom.

"Why didn't you tell me that you were married?" Stefan demanded as soon as he walked into the living room.

Damon sighed. "I already have an angry wife who kicked me out of bed, brother. Can we save this for tomorrow?" he asked, turning to a bottle of bourbon.

"No, Damon, we can't." Damon groaned, running a hand over his face.

"I got married and I didn't tell you, so what? Don't tell me that you all weren't happy to see me go. I didn't tell you about Charlie because I didn't think that you would care." He snapped, taking a long sip of the drink.

Suddenly, his phone vibrated in his pocket, and Damon smirked. He pulled it out, and read the text from Charlie. _Come to bed. I think I saw a monster clown in your closet. _Charlie was terrified of clowns.

Damon left his brother, and walked up to his room. Charlie was curled up in a ball under the covers. He slipped in next to her, and pulled her small body into his arms. She buried her face into his chest, and he ran a hand through her silky curls.

"I'm still mad at you." She mumbled sleepily.

"No you're not." He smirked, wrapping an arm around her waist.

"I know."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **thank you to: Nerw20, XxX-Blaze-XxX, and nette0602 for reviewing!

Reviews are inspiring!

~Abby :)


	5. you make my heart beat faster

Chapter four

"_You make my heart beat faster,"- Faster by Matt Nathanson _

_Kingston, New York_

_Four months ago_

_Charlie didn't want to go to Vegas for her wedding, despite Damon saying how fun it would be to gamble while in her wedding dress. Atlantic City was out of the question too, Charlie wanted a wedding in a church. She wanted to have a priest marry them, and she wanted to be in a dress. She wanted at least a few parts of the wedding she had planned when she was eight years old. And Damon wanted to give it to her._

_So he compelled a few people to be able to skip the waiting period, and Charlie found herself in a simple but gorgeous white dress in a church only two days after Damon had proposed to her. She was alone- it would be just her and Damon at their wedding- but she didn't mind. She found that the wedding itself didn't matter that much. Just the man that would be her husband in less than an hour._

_She smoothed the white dress down again, the hem skimming her knees. Her dark hair was down, because she knew Damon liked it that way. Charlie took a deep breath to calm her racing heart. She knew that they were moving very fast- she had only known Damon for eight months- but she loved him. They didn't have time on their side either. She had no doubt in her head that she and Damon were meant to be. She had no doubt that their marriage would work._

_There was a knock on the door, making Charlie jump. "Did the bride make her escape yet?" Damon called through the door._

_Charlie grinned. "The window's jammed, so I guess I'm stuck. Besides, I look too good in my dress not to have a wedding." _

_She heard Damon chuckle. "Lucky me then." He said, before trying to open the door, but Charlie stopped him._

"_No, Damon! its bad luck to see the bride in her dress before the wedding!" she exclaimed, holding the door shut._

"_Really Charlie?" she could practically hear his eyes roll._

"_Mister Salvatore, I will see you in twenty minutes, you'll just have to wait until then. It'll be impossible to miss me; I'll be the one in white." She joked._

_Damon sighed. "Only for you." He muttered, and she heard him walk away._

_Charlie grinned to herself, the butterflies flapping like crazy in her stomach. She knew that that was true; Damon did a lot of things that he would only do for her. But that was love, and if there was one thing true in this world, it was that Damon Salvatore was in love with Charlie Mathews._

Charlie hummed Beatles songs to herself as she fried up eggs. Her dark hair fell in her face, and she constantly had to push it out of her eyes. Just as she slid her breakfast onto a plate, she heard somebody walk down the stairs.

"Oh, hey Charlie," she looked to see Elena looking at her awkwardly.

"Hey, Elena." She grinned back, walking over to the kitchen table. She patted the chair next to her as she dug into her eggs. "Come sit."

"I have school," Elena told her apologetically.

"High school I assume?" Charlie asked, and Elena nodded. "Ugh, I hated high school. Especially when I was forced to quit a lot of my activities." She groaned.

Elena was interested to hear more about Damon's wife, and sat down next to her. "What were you in?" she asked.

"I didn't run with the popular kids, I was an art freak. I tried it all- plays, musicals, choir, art classes. Only I'm a complete klutz and am tone-deaf, so dancing and singing was out for me. I was in plays though, an okay artist, and I was the editor of my school newspaper. But mostly, I played football. I love football." Charlie grinned reminiscently.

"Football?" Elena raised an eyebrow.

"Soccer, I mean. I was the co-captain for my team, but I was forced to quit." She frowned. She missed playing football.

"Why?" Elena asked.

"Wasn't good for me." Charlie answered absentmindedly.

Before Elena could ask for further explanation, Charlie continued. "I was born in London, but when my parents got divorced when I was six, my mum and I moved to New York. What about you?"

"Lived here all my life." Elena answered, as Charlie finished her eggs.

"You know about… Stefan and Damon, right?" Charlie asked awkwardly, and Elena nodded.

"Yeah, I know that they're vampires." She said, just as two girls walked into the kitchen.

"Elena, ready to go?" a blonde asked, a curly haired black girl next to her.

The two girls' eyes trained on Charlie, as the young woman played with the hem of Damon's shirt. "Hi, I'm Caroline." The blonde introduced herself cheerfully.

"Bonnie," the other girl smiled kindly.

"Charlie," she said, as she stood up with her plate. "Damon's wife."

Bonnie and Caroline had the same reaction to Charlie's news as everyone else. They literally froze in shock. Charlie put her plate in the sink, and then turned to Elena. "It was nice talking to you, Elena." She said, before walking up the stairs.

"Damon is _married_?" she heard the two girls exclaim, as she walked to the bathroom.

_Charlie nervously paced her room, pre-wedding jitters getting the best of her. She thought about her friends' reactions to Damon's proposal. One of Charlie's closest friends Trina immediately demanded to know if Charlie was knocked up. Of course, Charlie wasn't pregnant because vampires couldn't have children. _

_Charlie's friends didn't like Damon very much, but none of them could deny that he treated Charlie very well. Since Charlie was so stubborn, they didn't even try to talk her out of the shotgun wedding, but that didn't stop her mother._

_Karen Hart was just as stubborn as her daughter, and loathed Damon. When she found out that he was about to become her son-in-law, she tried every tactic in the book to get Charlie to change her mind. Charlie never did._

_Since her friends and her mother weren't very supportive of her and Damon, Charlie didn't invite them to the wedding. Damon's relationships back in Mystic Falls were too messy to get into, so there were no guests._

_There was a knock on Charlie's door, and the priest opened the door. "We're ready, Charlotte. Are you ready to get married?"_

_Charlie took a deep breath and followed the priest out of the room. It was show time._

As Charlie took a handful of pills that tasted terrible and didn't have the best side effects, she felt arms wrap around her waist. Charlie smiled, and then put away the empty pill bottle.

"That reminds me, we need to go to the hospital. Dr. Walker recommended one when I told her that I was coming here. Besides, I need refills." Charlie said, as she stretched up and kissed her husband.

"She knew?" Damon mumbled against her lips.

"Of course, she gave me permission." Charlie smirked, pulling out a note and handing it to Damon. He frowned, reading the doctor's words, before throwing it away.

"I'm still mad that you came here in the beginning." Damon said, and Charlie rolled her hazel eyes.

"If I can get over you not telling people about our marriage." She told him, as she walked over to her bags and pulled out a pretty blue dress.

As she pulled on the dress, she noticed how bloated her stomach was. Not to mention her swelled legs, feet, and ankles. She groaned, and pulled the dress over her tummy.

"Dammit." She complained, and Damon's eyebrows furrowed.

"What's wrong, Char?" he asked, as she glared at her favorite wedges that she wouldn't be able to wear now.

"I'm just all bloated up, like a balloon. You have a balloon for a wife." She muttered, and Damon sighed. She definitely needed more of her meds. They were supposed to take down all the bloating and swelling. Charlie was very self-conscious about that.

"If it counts for anything, you're a very sexy balloon." He told her, pulling her into his arms.

"You suck at making people feel better." She mumbled into his chest, and Damon laughed.

"Maybe, but I make you laugh." He smirked.

Charlie pulled away and frowned at him. Damon tickled her sides, causing her to shout with laughter. "Jackass," she cried out between laughter.

"Maybe, but you love me." Damon smirked, as he stopped tickling his wife.

"Never said that I didn't." Charlie smiled at him, as she breathed heavily from laughing.

"_Do you, Damon, take Charlotte to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold from this day forward, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish as long as you both shall live?" the priest asked Damon, as Charlie beamed up at him._

"_I do," he said calmly, though his eyes never left Charlie's hazel ones._

"_Do you, Charlotte, take Damon to be your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold from this day forward, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish as long as you both shall live?" the priest asked Charlie._

"_I do." She gasped out._

_Damon slid her ring onto her finger, and she did the same to him. "Then I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride." The priest announced._

_Without another word, Charlie threw her arms around her new husband, and Damon's snaked around her waist. They kissed, still reveling in the fact that they were now Mister and Missus Damon Salvatore._

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **what's wrong with Charlie? Any guesses?

Thank you to: SomebodyWhoCares, Samantha meyers, vdemily, and Pinkbeca for reviewing!

Reviews are my muse ;)

~Abby!


	6. i tried to tell you that i need you

Chapter five

"_I tried to tell you that I need you," – Stay by Hurts _

_Kingston, New York_

_Four months ago_

_Charlie and Damon were driving around looking at houses. Charlie had been living at home, and Damon had a "bachelor pad" that Charlie refused to live in. she wanted a house just for them, that didn't have memories of Damon sleeping with other girls in it. And they were definitely getting a new bed._

"_Ooh, that one is so pretty!" she suddenly exclaimed, gesturing to a small but beautiful house. Perfect for newlyweds._

"_Too bad it's not for sale." Charlie frowned, but Damon just smirked at her. Then he pulled up in front of the house._

"_Damon, what are you doing?" Charlie asked warily, as her husband got out of the car._

"_I'm getting my wife her dream house." He said, as she slowly got out of his Camaro and followed him to the front door._

_She stood behind him, really embarrassed on what Damon was going to do. But Charlie did really want this house, so she didn't stop him. Damon knocked on the front door, and then a middle aged man opened the door._

"_Hello, what can I help you two with?" he asked politely, sounding confused._

"_Hi there. I'm Damon; this is my wife, Charlie. We're newlyweds." Damon said, using his slightly patronizing voice he used when charming people._

"_Oh, congratulations." The man said, as Damon wrapped an arm around Charlie. He was still confused on why they were there._

"_My wife just loves your house." Damon continued, while Charlie smiled apologetically._

"_I do, it's brilliant." She said with a slight British accent, blushing slightly._

"_Oh, well thank you." The man said, as Damon pulled out his checkbook. _

"_So, how much do you want for it?" Damon asked, as Charlie's face turned bright red at her husband's bluntness._

"_For my house? Sorry sir, it isn't for sale." The man said._

_Damon just wrote down a number and showed it to the man. His eyes widened at the number of zeros. "That's about three times of what it's worth." He said, not believing what was happening._

"_I'll throw in an extra zero if you can move out by Friday." Damon said, while Charlie secretly hoped that the man would say yes._

_After a few silent moments, the man sighed. "Deal." He agreed._

_Damon smirked at Charlie, as he wrote out the check. "I didn't even have to compel him." he said smugly, and Charlie beamed up at him._

"_Thank you." She whispered, squeezing his hand._

_Damon smiled softly down at his wife. Even though he just severely decreased his checking account, it was worth it to see her smile like that._

As Charlie and Damon left the hospital, a new bottle of pills in Charlie's purse, her phone suddenly rang. She looked at it, before sighing.

"Who is it?" Damon asked, as she bit her lip.

"My mum." She answered, debating on whether to answer it.

Damon groaned, as Charlie looked up at him. "You answer it." She said, giving him her phone.

Damon shook his head, and gave her an "are you crazy?" look. It was no secret that Karen Hart hated him. She told him every time she saw him.

"No thank you." He said, pushing the phone away.

Charlie sighed, shot her husband a dirty look, and then answered her phone. "Hey mum." She said in an extra sweet voice.

"_Charlotte Marie Mathews, where in the love of God, are you?"_

Charlie flinched slightly at her mother's angry voice, gripping Damon's hand as they walked to his car. "Technically, it's Charlotte Marie Salvatore now." She corrected her hesitantly.

"_Don't tell me, you ran off with that boy! Charlotte, how irresponsible can you be?" _Karen demanded of her daughter.

"That 'boy' is my husband, mother. He had a family emergency, and had to go home. So I went with him. It's not irresponsible," Charlie argued.

"_Charlotte, you shouldn't be hopping from state to state. It's not good for you," _Karen sighed, and Charlie could practically hear her head shake.

"Doctor Walker said it was perfectly fine as long as I relaxed after." Charlie soothed her mother, as Damon opened the car door for his wife.

"_Charlotte-"her_ mother tried to argue, as Charlie slid into Damon's Camaro.

"Mum, it's too late. I'm staying here with Damon until his family emergency is taking care of. I'll call you every night, I promise." Charlie said.

"Don't worry, Karen. I'll take care of Charlie." Damon said to Karen, grabbing the phone from his wife.

"_You are the worst thing to ever happen to my daughter." _Karen said bluntly, before hanging up on him.

"What did she say to you this time?" Charlie sighed, as he pulled out of the hospital parking lot.

"'You're the worst thing to ever happen to my daughter.'" Damon said, not affected by his mother-in-law's words at all. "Hey, it's a step up from 'Why don't you just go crawl up in a hole and die?'"

Charlie sighed. "I wish she was nicer to you." She admitted.

Damon shrugged. "She hates me this much, and she thinks I'm human. Imagine what she would say if she found out that I was a vampire."

Charlie sighed again, as Damon grinned, imagining her not too kind words. It bugged Charlie, but he loved pissing off his mother-in-law.

"_What?"_

_Charlie flinched, glad that Damon wasn't with her. Karen would've killed him if he was in the kitchen with her._

"_Damon proposed to me, mum." Charlie repeated, edging the knives away from her mother._

"_And what did you say?" Karen asked through gritted teeth, her curly blonde hair falling in her eyes._

"_I-I said yes, mum." Charlie admitted. She didn't act like it, but inside she was bursting from Damon's proposal. He wasn't the type for marriage, yet he asked her to marry him. There was a diamond engagement ring on her ring finger as proof._

"_How could you, Charlotte? That boy is no good for you! He is the last thing you need right now." Karen argued._

"_I am in love with 'that boy', mother. I love him so, so much, mum. And he loves me too, or he wouldn't of have proposed. Plus, it's not like we have all the time in the world. 'carpe diem' right?" Charlie wanted her mother to be excited for her engagement, but she knew that it wasn't going to happen._

"_No. absolutely not. I forbid it!" Karen exclaimed, looking very angry._

_Charlie glared at her mother. "I didn't come here to ask for your permission, mum, I came here to let you know how completely happy I am right now. I wanted you to be happy for me, too, but I see now that that isn't going to happen."_

_Karen's gaze softened as Charlie stood up. "Charlie-"she tried to say, but Charlie cut her off._

"_Damon's waiting for me. Bye, mum." She muttered, walking out the door._

"_How'd it go?" Damon asked, as his fiancée marched towards him. _

"_It's a good thing that you didn't come in with me." Charlie muttered, as he opened the passenger door for her, and she slid into the seat._

_Charlie didn't care what her mum thought. She loved Damon; she was excited to be the future Missus Damon Salvatore._

"Where to next?" Charlie asked, as she swallowed a few pills with a mouthful of water.

"I thought that we would stop and get you some food, since I can hear your stomach growling. And then we have a council meeting." Damon said, pulling into the parking lot of the grill.

Charlie smiled softly up at him. "You're not so bad." She stated, putting her pills away.

Damon smirked as he opened the car door for his wife. "Yeah, I'm warming up to you, too."

Charlie stretched up and kissed her husband, wrapping her arms around his neck. She was glad that she hadn't listened to her mother, that she had married Damon. She didn't know what she would do without him.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **thank you to: SomebodyWhoCares, vdemily, Pinkbeca, nette0602, Samantha meyers, and Be My Baby for reviewing! I am loving the response to this story! Keep it up :)

Review, pretty please!

~Abby!


	7. i've got the salt skin

Chapter six

"_I've got the salt skin."- Salt Skin by Ellie Goulding _

_Kingston, New York_

_Eleven months ago_

"_Who is Kyra with?" _

_Charlie's eyes snapped up to see one of her friends, Kyra, with her tongue in a familiar man's mouth. Charlie frowned, Kyra was a little loose when it came to sleeping with men._

"_I don't know, but he's hot." Bridget said, eying up the man. Trina brushed a black curl out of her face, as she checked out Kyra's new boy toy. _

"_I think he was dating Brenna Louis about a week ago." Trina said, as she sipped her drink._

"_Isn't Brenna missing?" Bridget asked._

"_Exactly." Trina said, and Charlie rolled her eyes. she loved Trina, but she was suspicious of everything and everybody. Her parents were conspiracy theorists and that trait got passed down to her._

"_That's Damon Salvatore. He was flirting with me at the bar about a month ago." Charlie said, as she sipped her drink._

"_Well, when Kyra throws him aside, I think I'm going to take a crack at him." Bridget said with a smirk._

_Charlie watched Damon again, frowning slightly. She had had only a few brief conversations with him, but he seemed like the kind of guy who broke hearts. She looked away, and stood up._

"_I'll be right back." she told her friends, standing up. Charlie walked over to the bar and ordered another drink._

"_Hello again, Charlie."_

_She didn't look up, as Damon smirked at her. "Hey, Damon." she said, as she paid for her drink._

_Charlie looked up, and her hazel eyes met his ice blue ones. Charlie was frozen for a second, at how shattered he looked. but when she blinked, it was gone._

"_Who broke your heart?" she whispered, her eyebrows furrowed._

_Damon raised an eyebrow at her. "Excuse me?"_

_She shook her head, and grabbed her drink. "Nothing, forget I said anything." _

_Damon watched as Charlie walked back to her friends. There was something about her, he just didn't know what it was. he couldn't describe it at all, if it was good or bad. He only knew that Charlie Mathews was very different._

"_Your place or mine, Damon?"_

_Damon looked at the sexy red head he had been making out with. Kyra, he thought her name was. "Mine." he smirked at her, before following her out of the bar. Just like three girls before her, Damon planned to feed on Kyra. he wasn't going to kill her- like he had with Brenna Louis- because he planned to stay in Kingston for a while. He needed to pace himself. He also planned on finding out what made Charlie Mathews so different._

"So, you mentioned yesterday that you think werewolves are behind Stefan's attack?" Charlie said, as she dug into her lunch.

"No, you're not getting involved." Damon said, causing her to frown at him.

"Damon-" she started to argue, but he silenced her.

"Charlie, I don't know what's behind Stefan's attack. I thought werewolves, but the attack seemed like vampires. But whatever it is, I don't want you involved in it." Damon said, stealing some of her fries.

Charlie pouted, and Damon rolled his eyes. "Sorry wifey, batting your long eyelashes and pouting isn't going to work this time." he said dismissively, and she sighed.

"Fine, you'll tell me eventually." She shrugged, and Damon raised an eyebrow at her.

"Oh, and why are you so sure about that?" Damon asked, and Charlie smirked at him.

"Because if you ever want to have sex again, you'll tell me." Charlie smiled mischievously, as she stood up. "Now come on, I don't want to be late for this council meeting."

Damon groaned as he followed his wife out of the grill. "You know, that threat is getting really old really fast." He commented, as they walked to his car.

"Yet it always provides results." She mused, before stopping suddenly in the middle of the parking lot, her eyes wide in pain.

Damon was instantly in front of her, holding her face in his hands. "Charlie! Come back to me, Char." He said it like he had been through these moments before. He had.

Charlie blinked a couple times, resting a hand on her chest. "That one lasted longer than usual." She stated, as Damon pulled them out of the road.

He didn't respond, his teeth gritted. Her little moments kept getting longer. That wasn't good at all. they drove silently to the Council meeting, Charlie acting like she didn't just have one of her moments in the middle of the road. It infuriated Damon, how she played off everything. The moments, the pills, everything.

"Damon, I didn't know that you were back in town!" Missus Lockwood greeted them, before her eyes wandered to Charlie.

"Hello, I'm Carol Lockwood." She said politely, offering her hand to the young woman.

"Charlie Salvatore." She smiled kindly, shaking her hand.

"Charlie's my wife." Damon informed Carol with a smirk, his arm snaking around the small girl next to him.

Carol's eyes widened in surprise, just like everyone else. But the mayor played it off better. "Congratulations. I had no idea that you were married, Damon." she said, not pegging Damon Salvatore for the marriage type at all. no one did.

"We got married for months ago." Charlie said, flashing her ring. Damon smirked slightly; Charlie loved showing off her ring. Especially to women who flirted with him. it was as if she was silently saying, _I got the ring, so suck it bitch._

"Charlie's here to join the council." Damon informed Carol. He didn't see how it mattered, but Charlie had insisted.

"She knows?" Carol asked Damon, who nodded.

"Well, welcome Charlie." Carol said to her, and Charlie smiled politely back. the couple followed the mayor into the meeting, where the other council members were gathered. Charlie and Damon stood in the back, as the meeting began.

"There have been attacks on the towns surrounding Mystic Falls-" the mayor began.

"Vampires." Damon whispered to his wife.

"The only difference from vampire attacks, is that these attacks were like actual animal attacks- the victims were torn apart." Carol continued.

"Werewolves." Damon said to Charlie.

"But the victims were drained completely of blood." She finished.

"I have no idea." Damon said, and Charlie bit her lip to stop from smiling.

"Who caused them?" one of the council members asked.

"I have no idea, we just have to make sure that whoever caused them doesn't come to Mystic Falls." The mayor said.

"Too late." Charlie and Damon whispered at the same time, both knowing that whoever caused the attacks, attacked Stefan.

After the council meeting, Charlie and Damon went home. Damon was stumped on what was causing the attacks on the victims in the other towns. He just wanted to make sure that whoever did stayed away from his wife and didn't try to finish off his brother.

Damon walked up to his room, to see Charlie curled up reading a book. He leaned against the door, watching her as she read _To Kill a Mockingbird _for the umpteenth time. She mouthed the words slightly as she read them- she knew that story by heart.

"You know, your staring is creepy." Charlie said to him, without taking her eyes off of her book.

"Why don't you just let me change you?" Damon blurted out.

Charlie sighed, and closed her book. "Do we have to do this now, Damon?" she asked, looking exhausted. But Damon had already pulled the fight out, and it just wasn't going to go away.

"Yes, we do. It would fix everything, Charlie. Yet you're being stubborn about it." He argued, as she got out of bed.

"Damon, I told you why I don't want to become a vampire just yet. I don't want to leave my mum, my friends." Charlie said, looking into her husband's accusing eyes.

"Either way, you're going to leave them, Charlie. But if you do it my way, you'll have me." he said, as Charlie looked away from him.

"Damon, it's not as easy of a decision as you're making it sound-" she sighed.

"Yes, it is, Charlie. You know why you won't become a vampire? Because you've given up. What did you expect to happen when we got married? Even if you got better, you would still die eventually and I'll live forever." Damon exclaimed.

They were repeating the same argument they always had. It always ended the same way. Damon stormed off and got drunk, and Charlie cried into her pillow. Then Damon would come to bed later, slightly drunk, and pull her into his arms. Then they would just push their fight aside. It was still there, they just pretended that it was.

But this argument wasn't going to end like those. At that moment, Stefan walked into the room, raising his eyebrows at the loud voices. "What's going on here?" he asked.

"Nothing, Stefan-" Charlie said, but Damon cut her off.

"Let's just tell him, Charlie, he's going to find out sooner or later." Damon said, his temper getting the better of him.

"Damon, don't." Charlie warned, her eyes wide.

"What's going on?" he asked warily.

"Charlie's dying, brother, and she's just letting it happen."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Charlie's secret is revealed.

Thank you to: KimmyWSmith, Marina164509, vdemily, SomebodyWhoCares, and nette0602 for reviewing!

Reviews are appreciated!

~Abby :)


	8. i walk in a field with wings

Chapter seven

"_I walk in a field with wings,"- With Wings by Amy Stroup_

"I'm not dying," Charlie said quickly, glaring daggers at Damon.

"You basically are, Charlie. Don't pretend that you aren't." Damon spat, as Stefan looked back and forth between the couple.

"I have cardiomyopathy, Stefan." Charlie explained, pushing her dark locks out of her face. "It's a disease that affects the heart muscle. I have restrictive cardiomyopathy, the least common type and I have a very serious case. I need a heart transplant, and without it- no matter the pills I'm taking- I have a very good chance of my heart failing. I'm number three on the list though, and my doctor doesn't know if I'm going to live long enough to get a heart."

Damon smashed a lamp suddenly, causing Charlie to jump. "I like I said before, Charlie's dying, and she won't let me change her." Damon said bitterly, before walking out of the room.

Charlie sighed, and sat down on the bed, placing her head in her hands. She knew that her disease was causing Damon just as much pain as it was her. Maybe even more. Stefan sat down beside his sister-in-law.

"Are you okay, Charlie?" he asked sympathetically.

Charlie nodded and sighed. "Damon and I don't actually fight very much, more like bickering. But one of the only things that we really do fight about is him changing me." she admitted.

"Why won't you let him?" Stefan asked curiously, and she sighed again.

"It's a long story, Stefan. I just don't think I'm ready to be one. It seems hard, difficult, dealing with your thirst and fighting to hold on to your humanity. I want to see if I can beat this, I think I can." She said, and Stefan squeezed her shoulder.

"I'm sorry that you have this." He said, and Charlie smiled softly.

"I'm sorry that Damon fell in love with a broken girl." She laughed humorlessly. "It took me a long time to get him to clean up his act, Stefan. If I do die, don't let him go back to that."

"You won't." he said quickly, causing Charlie to raise her eyebrows. "You and I both know that Damon would change you before he would let you die. Even if you hated him because of it."

Charlie sighed- Stefan was right. "How long have you had this, cardiomyopathy?" Stefan asked after a few silent moments.

"I was diagnosed with it when I was sixteen, but the doctors think that I've had it for years before it was discovered. That's why my case is so bad, that I need a transplant." She explained.

"If your case is so bad, why aren't you in a hospital?" he asked.

"Damon gives me his blood a few times a week. It doesn't heal my disease, but it helps a lot with my symptoms, and lets me actually have a life. My Doctor says that I'm the strangest case she's ever had. My cardiomyopathy is so bad that I need a transplant, yet my symptoms aren't as nearly as bad as they should be. She doesn't know that my husband is a vampire." Charlie said, playing with her wedding ring.

"I'm guessing that's why Damon proposed to you, because of your disease." Stefan guessed, ad Charlie nodded.

"I didn't see it coming, but I was so happy when he did. I love him, Stefan." She smiled, and so did Stefan.

"I can see that." He said, and then stood up. "You should talk to him, Charlie."

Charlie nodded her head. "I know, and I will." She murmured, as Stefan left.

_Kingston, New York_

_Four months ago_

_Charlie bit her lip, as she unlocked Damon's apartment with the key he gave her. She had bad news to tell him, and Damon didn't react well to bad news._

"_Hey babe." Damon called from the kitchen, as she dropped her jacket and purse onto an armchair. The apartment was messy, and Charlie sighed. She cleaned Damon's apartment- basically their apartment, since she practically lived there- almost every day, and he managed to make it messy right after._

_She walked into the kitchen, to see him making spaghetti, her favorite. Charlie smiled slightly, as she wrapped her arm around his waist. She loved it when he cooked for her, and he knew it too._

"_Hello, love." She breathed, resting her head against his chest._

_Damon wrapped one arm around Charlie and stirred the sauce with the other. "It smells amazing." She murmured absentmindedly against his shirt._

_He smirked into her dark curls. "I felt like being nice, and decided to make your favorite dinner." He said._

_Charlie didn't respond, and instead breathed in his scent. He smelled amazing, like bourbon, cologne, and soap. She snuggled closer to him, and he chuckled. _

"_Did you miss me, Char?" he asked, slightly sarcastic._

_Again, she didn't respond, and Damon began to worry that his girlfriend was mute. "Charlie, what's wrong?" he asked, pulling her away so that he could see her face._

_Charlie just sighed, and pushed a lock of hair out of her face. "I just got back from the doctor's…" she trailed off, and Damon stiffened._

"_Oh no." he whispered, and Charlie bit her lip. "I'm guessing that you didn't get good news." He sighed._

"_I got bumped down the list, for a heart." She said, exhaling loudly. Damon closed his eyes, and pulled her into his arms. She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, and closed her eyes. when Damon held her like that, she could pretend that she didn't have a life threatening heart disease._

"_I don't know why you won't let me compel you to the top of that damn list." He muttered into her hair, embracing her tightly._

_Charlie frowned, and pulled away from him. "I told you, I would feel guilty as hell if I got a heart unfairly, because you compelled some people. It wouldn't be right, if I took that heart away from somebody who really needed it." She explained._

_Damon frowned down at her. "And you don't need it?" he retorted._

"_I do, but not the way that person might." Charlie argued, her hazel eyes blazing._

"I _need you. How is that for a reason?" Damon said, bending down to stare Charlie in the eyes._

"_That's very selfish of you, Damon." she whispered, rendered breathless at the look in his eyes._

"_I'm a selfish person, Charlie. Of course I choose you over some stranger. I would choose you over somebody I knew really well." Damon said, cupping her face._

_Charlie sighed, and ran a hand through his hair. "I know you would, Damon. but that doesn't change how guilty I would feel. Please respect my decision." She said, before pulling away from him, and going into the living room._

_Charlie started picking up magazines and clothes from the floor. Cleaning always calmed her down. Damon always teased her for being a neat freak. As Charlie straightened a blanket thrown carelessly over a couch, Damon blurted out two words she never expected to hear from him._

"_Marry me."_

_Charlie froze; sure that she had heard him wrong. Slowly, she turned around to face him. "What?" she whispered, breathless._

_Damon walked over to her, and got down on one knee. Shockingly, there was a ring in Damon's hand, proving that he had thought about proposing before he had done it. Charlie's eyes were glued to it._

"_Charlotte Mathews, will you marry me?" he repeated in a deep voice, his eyes filled with such a deep emotion, it caused her to tear up._

"_Oh my god." She repeated, covering her mouth. "That's why you made me dinner. You were going to propose, and I ruined it with my crappy news."_

_Damon smiled slightly, brushing a tear as it fell down her cheek. "I hope that you're crying happy tears." He murmured._

_Slowly, Charlie shook her head. "I don't believe it." She breathed, now crying heavily. It was ruining her makeup, and she was sure that she looked like a raccoon. "Yes, Damon. Yes, I'll marry you!" she exclaimed, trying to wipe her tears away._

_Damon beamed up at her, before kissing every part of her that he could reach. Her stomach, her collar bone, neck, jaw, cheek, forehead, lips. The couple locked themselves in a type embrace. _

"_I love you so, so much." Damon mumbled into her hair, as he hugged her tightly._

_Charlie smiled, hugging him back just as tightly. "I love you too, love." She mumbled, still in shock._

_Damon slipped the engagement ring onto her ring finger, and kissed Charlie again. Charlie had pearly tears rolling down her cheeks, but a gigantic grin on her lips. "God, I love you so, so, so much, Damon." she breathed._

_Maybe this day wasn't a total bust, after all._

Damon was staring into the fire, a glass of bourbon in his hand. Charlie watched her husband, gnawing on her lip as she did so.

"Damon, can we please just let this go?" she asked softly, walking up to him.

"No Charlie, we can't." he said stiffly, not looking at her. "We have before, but we can't now."

"Will it make you stop being mad if I promise to think really hard about becoming a vampire?" she asked, touching his arm.

Damon stiffened, but automatically relaxed under her touch. "I love you Damon. don't you ever forget that." She breathed.

Damon sighed, as Charlie's hands reached up and started rubbing his shoulders. "You can't just massage your way out of this, Charlie." He said, despite him closing her eyes. he couldn't help it- Charlie gave amazing massages.

Charlie kept rubbing his shoulders, humming softly as she did. Slowly, Charlie kissed his shoulder, then his neck, then his cheek. She stopped rubbing, and instead kissed Damon. he groaned, before wrapping his arms around her tiny body.

"You're not just going to sleep your way out of this mess, Charlie." He mumbled against her lips, as Charlie slipped her hands under Damon's shirt and rubbed his chest.

"Mm hmm, Damon, you're right." She said, smiling smugly, as she pulled his shirt off.

Damon struggled to keep his composure, as his wife pushed him down on the couch and mounted his waist. Their lips never broke apart as Charlie slowly pulled her dress off.

As soon as Damon saw her pink, lacy panties, he groaned and then gave in. Charlie giggled slightly, as he flipped them over, and practically tore her dress off of her body, revealing a matching pink bra. She moaned softly into his mouth, as he tore her underwear off too.

Damon was right, Charlie couldn't make him forget about their fight by having sex with him, but she could distract him. and Damon really needed that distraction.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Cardiomyopathy is a real heart disease. Let me tell you, it took me forever to find a heart disease to fit into my story.

Thank you to: SomebodyWhoCares, Be My Baby, CrackHeadBlonde, Samantha meyers, vdemily, and Marina164509 for reviewing!

Review, gracias!

~Abby :)


	9. i'm giving you all my love

Chapter eight

"_I'm giving you all my love"- I Won't Give Up by Jason Mraz_

_Kingston, New York_

_Eleven months ago_

_Charlie Mathews was odd._

_It was cliché to say so, but she was unlike any girl Damon had ever met in his entire life. She was the clumsiest person he had ever met, and always apologized to people, even when they were the ones who screwed up. She loved classic cars, but was a very bad driver. She was very family oriented, and fiercely loyal. She didn't have just one taste in music- her I-pod was probably the only place in the world where you could find the Beatles, Taylor Swift, Green Day, Queen, and Lil Wayne together. Charlie was very jumpy and slightly paranoid, yet she loved horror movies. Overall, she was just weird._

_She was also very kind, but had no problem telling somebody off when they deserved it. When the two had their first real conversation a week after Damon had taken her friend Kyra home, he found that it was like she had put him under a spell. He found himself telling the little human girl things that he had barely admitted to himself. It must've been his bourbon._

"_Her name was Katherine," he blurted out to Charlie, as she took a sip of her drink, her hazel eyes watching him attentively, as if he was the only person in the room. "You asked before who broke my heart, the bitch's name was Katherine."_

"_How did she do it, if you don't mind me asking?" she asked, pushing a curl out of her face. _

_Charlie found that Damon Salvatore was like a book. One might think that they know that story just by looking at its cover. But in reality, that story might just be complex and heartbreaking. It was cliché, but Charlie thought that the saying, "don't judge a book by its cover," applied to Damon._

"_I fell in love with her, but so did my brother. She played us both, and I hate him because it wasn't just me for Katherine. We were supposed to live happily ever after, and all that shit. But it turns out that she never loved me, it was always my brother." Damon said, before throwing back his drink._

"_That doesn't sound very fun." Charlie said, playing with the locket around her neck._

"_You think?" Damon said, signaling for another shot._

"_I'm sorry," Charlie told him honestly, surprising Damon. "I'm sorry that you got stuck in a love triangle with your brother. And I'm sorry that you got your heart broken. If it helps, Katherine sounds like a major bitch."_

_Damon watched her carefully, not taking the shot that was placed in front of him by the bartender. "You know, you're the first person to say that to me." he told her._

"_Maybe I'm just the first person who actually got to hear your side of the story." Charlie countered, then nodded towards the shot. "Are you going to drink that?"_

_Damon didn't answer right away. "No, I don't think I am." He said finally._

"_Damon! are you ready to go?"_

_Damon and Charlie turned to see Kyra looking impatiently at Damon. "Nah, I'm think I'm gonna hang out with Charlie tonight." He said dismissively, before turning back to the little human girl in front of him. _

_Kyra glared at Charlie, before stomping away. Charlie's hazel eyes widened slightly- she never meant to get in between Damon and Kyra._

"_You should go with Kyra." Charlie urged, though for some reason, she wanted him to stay with her._

"_No, I'd rather stay here and drown my sorrows with you." He smirked slightly at her, before ordering two cokes for them._

_Charlie could've pushed him to go home with Kyra more, but instead she let him tell her all about Katherine, the good and the bad. Little did she know, Charlie was playing therapist for a century and a half old vampire._

Charlie woke up practically glued to Damon. she was on top of him, her arms around his neck, her legs around his waist, her head resting on his chest. She smiled slightly, and snuggled into her husband some more, before closing her eyes.

"Hmm, I have to say that 'makeup sex is better than 'I love you' sex, and right up there with 'newly engaged' sex, and 'Just married' sex." Damon said, as he pushed her messy curls away from her face.

"Really, 'Just married' sex is at the top for our best sex? We had sex in a bathroom at a restaurant about a half an hour after we got married." Charlie mumbled sleepily.

"I know, it was still pretty good though." Damon smirked.

"Meh, I suppose so. My favorite is 'Just found out about a new position' sex." She grinned mischievously into his chest.

"Yeah, I like that one too." He said, as Charlie pulled the blanket tighter around them.

"Char, time to get up." Damon said softly, but Charlie shut her hazel eyes tighter.

"No, can't we just stay in bed all day?" she whined.

"Sure, it's not like my brother's attacker is running around or anything." Damon said sarcastically, and Charlie groaned.

"Fine," she mumbled, before getting out of bed, completely naked. She smirked mischievously at her husband, and took time grabbing his shirt that she could wear to get to the bathroom. Damon's eyes never left her, until she walked out of their room.

He groaned as he sat up. Why, for the love of God, did he not say yes to staying in bed with his sexy wife?

_Four months ago_

"_Damon, why can't you tell me where we're going?" Charlie asked, pouting in the passenger seat of his Camaro._

"_Because I just love making you mad, Charlie." Damon smirked back at his new wife._

_Charlie pouted and smoothed down her white dress. Damon refused to tell her where they were going for their honeymoon. "Is it out of country?" she asked._

"_My dear mother-in-law made it very clear that if I took you out of this country, she would have me killed." Damon answered, smirking slightly. No one Karen would hire would know how to kill him._

"_If you're taking me to Atlantic City, Damon-" Charlie frowned, but Damon rolled his eyes._

"_You didn't want to get married there, so why would you want to spend our honeymoon there?" Damon retorted, as they neared the airport. It shocked Charlie, when they pulled into it._

"_So, we're going somewhere far enough to take a plane." Charlie mused, smiling eagerly. "Tell me, Damon! Please!"_

"_You'll just have to wait patiently Char." Damon smirked._

_Damon made Charlie stand in a corner when he bought their tickets, and refused to tell her where they were going until they reached their gate. Charlie was practically shaking with anticipation, wondering where Damon was taking them._

_Somehow, Damon managed to keep the secret even after they boarded the plane. How Charlie didn't overhear from flight attendants or other passengers was stroke of good luck. She was slightly annoyed that Damon refused to tell her where they were going, but that didn't stop them from having sex in the airplane bathroom._

_Charlie must've fallen asleep on Damon's shoulder, because he was shaking her awake. "Wake up Char, we're almost there." He said softly._

_Charlie mumbled softly, rubbing her eyes as she woke up. She yawned, and smoothed down her white dress. "Do I get to know the secret now?" she asked softly, still waking up._

_Damon laughed softly. "Just listen, Charlie." He told his wife._

_As if on cue, the pilot announced over the intercom, "We should be arriving in Maui in about half an hour, folks." He said, and Charlie froze._

"_You're taking me to Hawaii?" she whispered, and Damon smiled slightly._

"_You told me before that the three places you want to go are Paris, Ireland, and Hawaii. Since your mom ruled out Europe, I thought that you would just have to settle for Maui." He said, as Charlie beamed up at her new husband._

"_I can't believe you remembered me telling you that," she whispered, in awe. "I told you that, months ago."_

_Damon softened as he saw her eyes water, though he smirked slightly. "Are you crying, Charlie?" he asked._

"_No," she lied, brushing her tears away. "Shut up." She added, when she saw his smirk._

"_God, I hate you for making me cry." She said, though was touched that Damon remembered a conversation that they had had months earlier, when he was half drunk._

"_Yeah, that's why you married me, Missus Salvatore." he said sarcastically_

_Charlie always thought that "Missus" would make her sound about twenty years older, but she liked how it sounded, being Missus Salvatore. Charlie kissed her husband softly, before hugging him. She rested her head on his shoulder, as he lightly stroked her messy hair. If it was possible, Charlie fell more in love with her husband at that moment._

Charlie pulled on a blue dress, and slipped on a pair of flats. She felt lightheaded, and leaned on the wall for support. Having sex always took a lot out of her, but Damon always gave her some of his blood, and she felt better after.

"You look like you're going to pass out." Damon observed, walking up to his wife. He bit his wrist, and offered it to her. Charlie sighed, before gulping down a mouthful.

"Are you ready to go?" Damon asked, as his wrist healed.

Charlie nodded, and wiped his blood from her lips. She was already starting to feel better. The two left the boarding house, and Damon drove them to the Grill. They found Alaric grading papers.

"Hello again." Charlie said, as she sat down next to him.

"Hey Ric," Damon smirked, sitting down next to her. "You met my wife."

"Yeah, hi Charlie." Alaric said, still stunned at the fact that Damon was married. He was bound to go into shock when he found out about Charlie's heart disease.

"So, why are you two here?" Alaric asked, setting aside papers. He turned to Damon, as Charlie picked up the papers.

"Are you a teacher?" Charlie asked curiously.

"Yeah, and I'm really behind on grading papers. Your… husband has dragged me into hunting werewolves with him." Alaric said, and Charlie picked up his pen and started correcting, as Damon filled in Alaric about what he had so far, on Stefan's attack.

"Yeah, I'm not so sure about the werewolves anymore." Damon said, both men oblivious to Charlie scribbling furiously on a particularly bad essay.

"Why?" Alaric asked, taking a sip of his drink.

"There had been attacks at towns around us lately, and I'm sure that they're vampires. Just really messy vampires. Rippers, probably. Besides, what would a werewolf want with Stefan? Why would anybody want to kill Stefan anyway? He's the nice one." Damon asked nobody in particular.

"Maybe they wanted to kill you, but you were gone." Alaric said absentmindedly, turning to Charlie, as she set down the red pen with a self-satisfied grin.

"There, all done." She said, massaging her hand due to it cramping up on her.

"Are _you _a teacher?" Alaric asked, as he looked to see how well she corrected his papers.

"No, but I've taken classes to become one. Things have gotten in the way, though." Charlie said vaguely, as Damon smirked and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"My girl's a genius." He said proudly, causing Charlie to laugh and push him away playfully. Alaric just watched the sugary sweet couple, wondering what the hell Charlie did to Damon, to get him like this.

"Charlotte Marie, I've been looking everywhere for you."

Charlie stiffened, and Damon groaned. Alaric turned around to see a pissed-off looking middle aged woman. "Mum, what are you doing here?" Charlie sighed, as Karen Hart glared daggers at her son-in-law.

"I'm here to take you home, Charlotte."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **thank you to: Be My Baby, SomebodyWhoCares, Marina164509, bookfreak25, vdemily, thesalvatoregirl, Samantha meyers, and aerocrombielovr16 for reviewing!

Reviews are my muse!

~Abby :p


	10. everyone just wants to fall in love

Chapter nine

"_Everyone just wants to fall in love"- Weapons by the Daylight_

_Kingston, New York_

_Ten months ago_

_Damon and Charlie had been hanging out for almost a month. It had progressed from long conversations at the bar to actually going out to restaurants. Her friends didn't like Damon very much, and Kyra had stopped talking to Charlie for "stealing her man." but Charlie and Damon weren't like that. They were friends, especially because neither was looking for a relationship. Charlie had cardiomyopathy and could have her heart fail at any minute, and Damon was… well, Damon. _

_But despite how both of them- even Damon- just wanted to be "just friends," there was still that charge of sexual tension in the air. There was still how Damon would pass up hot drunk sorority girls just to talk with Charlie about nothing at all. And there was how Charlie lied to multiple girls that Damon was gay so that they wouldn't hit on him._

_After being kicked out of their regular bar due to last call, Damon walked Charlie home, as per usual for them. It had yet to occur to Damon that the little human woman next to him had changed him. He hadn't killed in a long time, and though he had had plenty of one night stands since meeting Charlie, he would always choose her over a potential hook up._

"_Why do you live with your mom?" Damon asked suddenly, as they walked, the cool summer night breeze blowing gently against them._

_Charlie shrugged. "Because she won't let me move out. She's overbearing, but her hearts in the right place." Charlie said vaguely, and Damon's eyebrows shot up._

"_Why won't she let you move out?" he asked, and Charlie bit her lip. She had yet to tell Damon about her heart disease. But Damon had yet to tell Charlie about the fact that he was undead, so they were even._

"_She's just very protective." Charlie lied, when suddenly she got hit by another pain in her heart. She gritted her teeth and stopped walking, placing a hand over the pain._

"_Charlie, what's wrong?" Damon asked, frowning at her._

_The pain finally went away, and Charlie sighed. Her chest pains had been getting worse lately. "Nothing," she lied, walking again towards her house. Damon's eyebrows were furrowed, but he walked along with her._

_They walked in silence all the way to Charlie's front porch. The house was dark, and she figured that her mother was asleep. She took out her key and unlocked the door. She turned to Damon and smiled slightly. "Thanks for walking me home." She said her hand on the door knob._

"_Any time." He said his blue eyes surprisingly soft._

_For one millisecond, Charlie's only thought was "Kiss me." she willed him to do it with her mind, but as soon as she realized what she was thinking, she blinked and looked away._

"_Goodnight, Damon." she said quietly, pushing the front door open._

"_Charlie, wait." Damon said suddenly, grabbing her arm._

_When Charlie turned curiously towards Damon, he crushed his lips against hers._

_It was so unexpected, Charlie froze. Damon's hands cupped her face, his eyes closed. Charlie's hazel eyes were wide open. She willed herself to do anything but stand there like an idiot, but luck was not on her side._

_Damon pulled away when she didn't kiss him back. He stood there awkwardly, and Charlie opened her mouth to explain. But Damon just shook his head as if he'd didn't want to hear her excuses, and walked away from._

"_Damon, wait!" she exclaimed, running after him. He stopped despite himself, and turned around to face her._

_Charlie threw her arms around Damon's neck, kissing him as if it was her last kiss ever. Damon seemed surprised, but wrapped his arms around her. She closed her eyes, not realizing before just how much she wanted Damon to kiss her. She bit gently and playfully down on his bottom lip. _

"_Charlotte! Come inside. Now."_

_Charlie had never been more agitated with her mother than at that moment. A part of her wanted to tell Damon to take her to his place, but instead, she pulled away from him._

"_Oh, hello mum." Charlie said cheerfully, turning around to see her mother in a robe on the front porch glaring at Damon._

"_Charlotte, it's almost two A.M, come inside." Karen repeated, studying the man her daughter had been snogging seconds ago. Just by the leather jacket and smirk on his lips, she could tell that he was a mother's worst nightmare._

"_One second mum," Charlie said, slightly breathless._

_Karen ignored her. "Charlotte, come-"_

"_I will in one bloody second, mum!"_

_Karen's eyes widened at Charlie's outburst. Charlie glared at her mother, her cheeks pink from embarrassment. Karen slowly turned around walked back into the house, but Charlie could see her silhouette in the window._

"_I am so sorry," Charlie apologized, pushing a stray curl out of her face. _

"_Don't worry about it," Damon said, shrugging like it was no big deal. "I'll see you tomorrow."_

"_Goodnight, Damon." Charlie said her smile lighting up her eyes. Damon felt his heart skip a beat at her smile. It made him smile slightly._

"_Night, Charlie," he said, easily pretending like she didn't affect him._

_She walked up to her house, aware that Damon was still watching her. She forced herself not to look back at him, but when she reached the door, she snuck a peek. Damon was long gone._

_She sighed slightly, but didn't let that ruin her good mood. Charlie had a huge grin on her lips as she walked up to her room. Not even her hovering mother could harsh her mellow._

"_Charlotte, who was that boy?" Karen demanded, as soon as the front door shut._

"_Mum, I am twenty one years old. I am embarrassed that I'm still living with you. I will not tell you every bloody detail of my love life. And if you ever do that to me again, 'I'm moving in with Trina." She snapped, before slamming her bedroom door._

_Charlie sat down on her bed, her heart still pounding in her chest. It wasn't good for her heart, to get worked up like she was. But Charlie couldn't help it; she was falling fast and hard for Damon Salvatore._

"Mum, I'm not going home." Charlie said, as Damon rolled his eyes.

"Charlie's a big girl, Karen. I didn't kidnap her, she wants to be here. She wants to be with me." Damon told his glaring mother-in-law.

"I think I'm going to go over there." Alaric said abruptly, walking away from the awkward moment.

"Charlotte, it was so irresponsible for you to do this!" Karen exclaimed, causing people to look at them curiously.

"Can we not do this here?" Charlie asked, blushing with embarrassment.

"For her to do what, Karen? For her to come to Mystic Falls, or for her to marry me?" Damon asked his eyes cold with anger.

"Both." She said bluntly, and Damon felt anger run hot through his veins.

"Enough, you two. We can continue this in a less public place." Charlie said, forming a barrier between her husband and her mother.

"Charlotte, we're leaving. Pack your bags." Karen said, walking towards the door.

Charlie looked up at her husband, whose eyes were filled with icy rage. "I'm not leaving, okay? I'm not leaving you or this town. Just let me talk to her." she said softly.

Damon nodded gruffly, and Charlie kissed him softly, before following her mother out of the Grill. As soon as they were away alone, Charlie glared angrily at her mother.

"Who the bloody hell do you think you are?" she shouted angrily.

"I am your _mother, _Charlotte. That is who I am! You have no right to talk that way to me." Karen said, and Charlie rolled her eyes.

"You have no right to come here, _mother. _I am twenty two years old; I am in charge of my life, not you. Not anymore." She snapped.

"But I have the right to tell you when you're ruining your life, Charlotte!" Karen retorted, and Charlie's glare intensified.

"Don't you _dare _say that I am ruining my life, being with Damon. He is the best thing in my life right now." Charlie snapped.

"He's terrible for you, Charlotte! But you're so lost in his good looks, charming words, and bank account that you have yet to realize that!" Karen snapped back, and Charlie felt as if she had just slapped her.

"Do think that I'm with Damon because he's rich and attractive? I'm with Damon because I'm madly in love with him, and I can't believe that you would think otherwise. It's nice to know that my mother thinks that I'm a gold digger." Charlie said sarcastically.

Instead of apologizing, Karen stuck to her guns. "Please, Charlotte. I know that him buying you every object that shines and sparkles makes putting up with his attitude a lot easier." Karen gestured to Charlie's wedding ring, and the bracelet Damon bought her to cheer her up when she got in a particularly depressed mood over her disease a few months ago.

Charlie couldn't believe what her mother was saying to her. "You don't know him, mother. You don't know the real Damon. If you weren't so caught up in hating him, you would realize how much I love him, and how good he is to me. He loves me mum, and I love him back." Charlie told her.

But Karen wasn't listening. "I've called my lawyer. We're going to fix this mess, Charlotte." She told her daughter, walking towards her car.

"Wait, are you saying that you want me to get a _divorce?" _Charlie asked, her eyes huge.

"My lawyer says that under the circumstances, you can get an annulment instead. Less fuss than a divorce, but it means the same thing." Karen smiled as if she was doing her daughter a favor.

"I'm not leaving Damon, mum. End of story." Charlie said firmly, and Karen Hart stopped in her tracks.

"Excuse me?" she asked, as if she couldn't believe her daughter's words.

"Have you not been listening to a word I've been saying? I love him, mum. I love Damon Salvatore!" she screamed out loud, causing her to get strange looks from passing people.

"I don't care if you hate him. If your opinion mattered to me, I never would've married Damon in the first place. But I'm Charlotte Marie Salvatore now, and I have no plans on changing that." Charlie told her mum honestly, before turning around and walking back into the Grill.

"How'd it go?" Damon asked, more calm and drunk than he was when she left him.

"She… she wants me to get an annulment." Charlie told her husband quietly, pulling the glass of whiskey out of his hand.

Damon's eyes instantly hardened. "What a bitch." He growled, but instantly looked at Charlie apologetically when he realized that he had just called his wife's mother a bitch.

Charlie shrugged. "She is one, a very stubborn, determined one. I told her that I wasn't going to leave you, but she wouldn't listen." Charlie sighed.

Damon smirked at his wife. "Yeah, I know. I heard you screaming 'I love Damon Salvatore.'" He teased, and she playfully shoved him.

"Let's just go home, okay?" she said, resting her head on his shoulder.

Damon nodded, and the two left. Karen's sudden appearance had made Damon forget all about plotting with Alaric on how to take down Stefan's attacker. It was night when they got back to the boarding house, and it was silent. Charlie walked right up to their room, but Damon lingered behind.

The idea of Charlie leaving him willingly hurt more than the idea of her dying. Because at least if Charlie died, it wasn't because she didn't want to be with him. If Charlie divorced him, it would be because she finally got sick of her husband.

Damon sighed, he couldn't imagine how it would feel, not to have Charlie. He didn't ever want to feel that, and swore to himself that he would never let anything take her away from him, heart diseases or bitchy mother-in-laws.

Damon slowly made his way up to his room and his wife. When he pushed the door open, his eyes widened and his mood lifted. There was his sexy wife, stretched out on their bed in sexy lingerie.

"You just made my year." He murmured, taking in the lace and the mischievous grin.

Charlie giggled, and sat up. "I thought that we both might need a good cheering up. And personally, 'cheering up' sex is my favorite after 'new position' sex." She said, beckoning her husband to her.

"They usually go hand in hand." He whispered huskily, before his lips were on hers, and she was pinned under him.

"Just don't rip off my underwear, love. I really like these." She mumbled breathlessly, as Damon's hands inched towards her lacy panties.

After a few new positions, Charlie was fast asleep on Damon's chest. Two days of sex in a row was hard on her, and she'd probably be exhausted in the morning. After Damon kissed the side of her head, he gently laid her head on her pillow, and got out of bed. He slipped on his boxers, and then snuck down to the kitchen.

Damon was much happier after making love to Charlie. Her plan had worked, and 'cheering up' sex was his new favorite. After Damon finished his glass of blood, he was just about to go back to Charlie, when the doorbell rang.

Despite being just in his boxers, Damon answered the door. It was ten o'clock at night, and he wondered who it would be. He groaned when he saw his mother-in-law glaring at him.

"Ugh, what?" he asked, even more pissed at her than usual, since she was hell bent on breaking him and Charlie up.

"Where is my daughter?" Karen asked, and Damon gritted his teeth.

"Sleeping," he said, fighting the urge to add that they had just had really good sex. "If you're here to pack her bags for her, don't bother. Charlie's not leaving- me, or this town."

"I'm not here for my daughter, I'm here to talk to you." Karen said, and Damon groaned.

"Great," he said sarcastically, but moved aside to let in Karen.

"Do you want to put on a shirt?" Karen's nose wrinkled, and Damon smirked.

"Nope," he popped the 'p'. Karen sat down uncomfortably on a chair, while Damon stood. He just wanted to get this conversation with the bitch from hell over with, and get back to his beautiful wife.

"Now, it's no secret that I don't approve of you and my daughter," Karen started, and Damon snorted.

"Really? I never would've guessed, with the snide remarks and trying to get her to divorce me." Damon said sarcastically.

Karen rolled her eyes. "You're not good for her, Damon. You'll never love her the way Charlotte deserves to be loved. I know your type. You like to play with sweet, caring, innocent girls like her, and then you completely break them. Charlotte worships the ground you walk on, but you'll never completely commit to her. And what with her… disease, I'm surprised you've stuck around this long." Karen said.

"You don't know what you're talking about, Karen." Damon told her, feeling rage boil up inside of him. "You'll never know how much I love Charlie. I'm 'sticking around' because I'm madly in love with her, and I plan to stick around forever."

"You don't deserve her, Damon!" Karen exclaimed. Even though he didn't say it out loud, Damon silently agreed with her. He had done so many bad things, killed so many innocent people. The fact that he had Charlie still seemed too good to be true.

"What do you want me to do, Karen?" Damon asked, though he already knew.

"Stop being selfish with her." Karen said bluntly.

"I'm sorry, I can't do that." Damon told her honestly.

Karen looked at him very seriously. "I don't doubt that you love her," she admitted. "But just because you love somebody, doesn't mean that you're good for them."

Damon was silent, and Karen stood up. "All I'm saying Damon, is that there's something to be said about a man who loved a woman so much, he let her go." She told her son-in-law, before leaving.

Damon stood in silence, as he thought about what Karen had said to him. Maybe it would be better for Charlie, if he left her. Maybe, for the first time in his life, Damon should be selfless, and let Charlie be with somebody who deserved her. Even if it did kill him, thinking about another man having her.

Slowly, Damon walked back up to his room. When he got to his bed, he pulled Charlie's naked body into his arms, and she sighed in her sleep. Damon decided to just push aside his internal debate for later, and fell asleep with Charlie's head on his bare chest. But even though he pushed them aside, Karen's words were still in his mind, the question that just refused to be forgotten. He loved Charlie, but did he love her enough to let her be happy without him?

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **thank you to: vdemily, KimmyWSmith, Be My Baby, Samantha meyers, and SomebodyWhoCares for reviewing!

Reviews are inspiring!

~Abby :)


	11. looking at you now, you would never know

Chapter ten

"_Looking at you now, you would never know."- Wires by Athlete_

_Kingston, New York_

_Eight months ago_

_Charlie and Damon had been seeing each other for two months. Charlie didn't know what to call their relationship. She didn't want to assume that they were boyfriend and girlfriend. But they weren't just hooking up, especially since they hadn't slept together yet._

_Charlie was starting to notice strange things about Damon. He got weird around blood, and sometimes, when things were getting really hot and heavy between him, she'd swear that his face would change. For a split second, she would swear that his eyes would look red and veiny. But then they'd go back to normal, and Damon would act like nothing happened._

_She had yet to tell Damon about her disease, and knew that she had to do it soon. Charlie was falling in love with Damon, and wanted him to know what he was getting into before they became something serious._

_It was Friday night, and Charlie was being dragged to a party by her mother. It was for charity, research for heart diseases. Charlie had talked her mum into letting her bring a date, and despite Karen's open hatred for Damon, she agreed that he could come._

_The doorbell rang as Charlie smoothed down her red dress. She felt her heart race as she walked down the stairs and opened the door._

"_Whoa," Damon said, losing his composure when he saw Charlie. She blushed, her hazel eyes lighting up and a grin forming on her lips._

"_You clean up well," she said, and Damon smirked._

"_You don't look so bad yourself," he said, as she walked out of her house, and locked the door._

"_I convinced my mum to meet us there," Charlie told him, as they walked to his car._

_Damon nodded, trying to regain his composure. He didn't know what his plan with Charlie was. At first, they were just friends, and Damon was okay with that. But now they were basically dating, and he was crazy for the little human woman next to him._

_But there was something off with her, she wasn't completely normal. Charlie was hiding something from him, but Damon was hiding something from her too. He didn't know how to go about telling her that he was a vampire. He knew what her reaction would be, and for some reason, Damon didn't want to lose her. He cared about her, maybe too much._

"_Thank you for coming with me tonight," Charlie said abruptly, sliding into the passenger seat of his car._

_Damon smiled softly, as he shut her door. "It's my pleasure," he murmured._

_The truth was, Charlie had him wrapped around her finger. He found it nearly impossible to say no to her. After Damon slid into the driver's seat, he pulled a box out of a compartment. "Here," Damon said, as he gave it to her._

_Charlie opened the black box that had a simple red bow on it. She gasped slightly when she saw a beautiful pendant necklace. "Oh my god, it's gorgeous." She said, her fingers lightly brushing the red stone in the middle._

"_I'm glad you like it," he said, as he helped her put it on. The necklace smelled nice, like it had herbs in it._

"_Thank you so much," she beamed, as she fixed her hair. "What is this for?"_

"_Nothing, just something I had lying around," Damon lied._

"_I love it, Damon. Thank you so much," she said, kissing his cheek._

_Little did Charlie know, her new necklace was filled with vervain._

When Charlie woke up, Damon was awake. She smiled sleepily, and snuggled into his chest. Damon was stiff though, and it made her frown. "What's wrong, love?" she mumbled, half asleep.

Damon didn't answer, but Charlie already knew the answer. "What did my mum say to you?" she asked, wide awake now.

Damon looked deep in thought, like he was actually considering what her mother had told him. Charlie bit her lip, knowing that whatever Karen had told him wouldn't be good for their marriage.

"Please Damon, talk to me," she urged, and his blue eyes flickered to her.

"She stopped by last night when you were asleep," he told his wife finally. "She was trying to talk me into leaving you."

Charlie exhaled loudly. "Please tell me that you just pushed it aside, that you're not thinking about it," she whispered, her heart sinking.

Damon didn't answer, and Charlie knew the answer. "Damon, we can't let her ruin us," she told him.

"She has a point, Charlie. Maybe you are better off without me," he said quietly, and she gave him a sharp look.

"Don't say that. You know that I wouldn't. You know that I'd be lost without you," she told him, needing him to push all thoughts of leaving her out of his head.

"Charlie," Damon sighed, looking at his wife. "I love you, so much. This isn't about that, it's about what you deserve. And maybe I'm not that."

Charlie gave him a hard look. "I don't care about what you and my mother think I 'deserve.' I want _you, _I need _you." _She insisted.

"I just want you to be happy, Charlie. Even if that means I can't have you," Damon sighed, closing his eyes.

Charlie softened. "I've never been happier than when I'm with you," she whispered, kissing him softly, before getting out of bed.

"We can't let my mother drive us apart, Damon. I won't allow it," she called, as she walked to the shower. Charlie was going to go have a word with her mother.

_Damon and Charlie swayed slowly on the dance floor, her head resting on his shoulder. Despite her mum making little digs at Damon, and introducing Charlie to a young man who was in school to be a doctor, the evening had actually been fun._

"_Why does your mom hate me so much?" he asked, resting his chin on top of her head._

"_I don't know, I think it's the fact that you're a bad influence on me," Charlie mumbled, her eyes closed in contentment._

"_How I am a bad influence, Miss Charlotte?" he asked in a slightly amused voice._

_Charlie rolled her eyes at his stupid nickname for her. "I've never snuck out or broke curfew before I met you," she informed him._

"_What twenty one year old has a curfew?" he asked, as he spun Charlie._

"_The kind that live with very suffocating mothers," she retorted._

"_Well, I think that if she suffocates you any more, you're going to mouth-to-mouth," he smirked at her, and Charlie rolled her eyes._

_The danced in silence, and Charlie closed her eyes again. Despite her heart disease, Charlie had never been happier than at that moment. Suddenly, she blurted out three words that would forever change her life._

"_I love you."_

_Charlie and Damon both froze when she said it, but she realized right then how true they were. She was in love with Damon Salvatore._

"_I do," she said, looking up at his shocked face. "You don't have to say it back," she told him. It was soon, and she didn't want him to say it if he didn't mean it, just to spare her feelings._

_Damon was frozen still, has he had his own revelation. He had done something that he had never intended to do. He had fallen in love with Charlotte Mathews. _

"_I-I think that I love you too," he whispered, and Charlie's breath caught in her throat._

_Both realized at that moment that they had to tell the other their secret, and soon._

"Charlotte, what on earth is wrong with you?"

Charlie had just marched into the Grill, where her mother was bound to be plotting her next attack on her daughter's marriage, and knocked the cup of tea that her mother was about to drink right out of her hand.

"What's wrong with _you?" _she retorted, so angry that steam was practically coming out of her ears. "You're trying to ruin my marriage! Who the bloody hell does that?"

Karen Hart sighed. "Charlotte, I only want what's best for you-" she tried to say, but Charlie cut her off.

"No, you don't. Not really. Because if you did, you would see that Damon's the best for me. I don't care if you hate him, mother. I don't care if you think he's going to kill me in my sleep, and bury mu body in the woods. I'm so _sick _of you trying to rip Damon and I apart. If you say or do one more thing that could, in any way, shape, or form break up my marriage, I will never, ever talk to you again. You will be dead to me. Do you understand?" Charlie told her mother, who listened with wide eyes.

"Charlotte-" she tried to say, but Charlie just cut her off again.

"_Do you understand, mother?" _Charlie snapped, her eyes blazing.

Karen sighed, and just nodded. "You can't stop a mother for wanting the best for her daughter," she said quietly, as Charlie walked away.

"You crossed the line of 'motherly concern' a long time ago, mother," Charlie said darkly, before leaving the Grill.

As Charlie drove back to the boarding house, still out of breath from telling off her mum, she hoped that she wouldn't have to worry about her marriage ending any more. For once, Charlie just wanted one drama-free moment, where she wouldn't have to worry about her brother-in-law dying, or her marriage being broken up, or her heart giving out. But Charlie didn't grow up in Mystic Falls, she didn't know that people lived and breathed drama.

As she pulled up to the boarding house, just missing Damon's Camaro, she noticed an unfamiliar car parked in front of her husband's prized possession. Her brow furrowed, Charlie got out of the car, wondering who it belonged to. Her question was answered when she saw a very familiar man waiting outside of the house for her.

"Daddy?"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **thank you to: KimmyWSmith, Be My Baby, SomebodyWhoCares, jacquline, and Marina164509 for reviewing!

Reviews are very much appreciated!

~Abby ;)


	12. this heart is on fire

Chapter eleven

"_This heart is on fire,"- Be Here by Parachute_

"Hello, sweetheart," James Mathews grinned at his daughter, before walking over to her and hugging her.

"I missed you so much!" she grinned, hugging him back.

"Why are you here, dad?" she asked after they pulled away.

"Well, when I got a text message from my daughter, telling me that she was married, I figured that I should meet my son-in-law sooner or later," James grinned.

"Did mum call you?" Charlie asked, and he sighed.

"Yes, she wants me to be on her side. But I'm not picking sides until I meet the man you're so hopelessly in love with," he told his daughter. "Who knows? Even if he's an awful person, I just might be on your side, to spite your mother."

Karen and James didn't have a very good divorce, and they were committed to pissing off each other whenever possible. Charlie laughed. "Thanks, dad," she told him, before unlocking the boarding house, and gesturing for him to come in.

"Just let me go get Damon," she told James, before hurrying up the stairs.

"Charlie," Damon said as soon as she walked into their room. "I'm sorry."

Charlie paused. "For what?" she asked.

"For even thinking about leaving you," he said, before picking her up and hugging her. "You're right, we can't let your mom ruin us."

Charlie smiled softly, and hugged Damon tightly. All her fears melted away when she heard him say that. "its fine, I never would've let you anyway," she said, before kissing him.

She almost forgot about her father waiting downstairs for them. She pulled away from her husband, and smiled slightly. "My dad's here," she told him.

Damon's eyebrows shot up. "Oh no," he said, putting her down.

Charlie shook her head. "My dad's the opposite of my mum. He'll like you just because my mum hates you."

Damon still sighed. He wasn't the type of man who was loved by parents. Still, he'd make James Mathews like him, if that was the key to being with his daughter. "Well, let's get this over with," Damon said.

Charlie held his hand, as the couple walked down the stairs. James's gaze went to the man whose arm was wrapped around his daughter. The first thing James noticed was how Charlie looked at Damon like he was everything to her. the second thing James noticed was how Damon returned that with a gaze that made it clear that Charlie was his entire world. Those two were madly in love with each other.

"Dad, this is Damon. my husband," Charlie smiled.

"James Mathews," James introduced himself, holding out his hand.

"Damon Salvatore," Damon shook his hand. It must've of been a father thing, an instinct. Because James could practically sense that Damon was the kind of man that fathers hid their daughters from. But there was no doubt in James's mind, that Damon loved his daughter. The fact that Damon was with Charlie despite her cardiomyopathy proved that.

"Nice to meet you, Damon. I'll let the fact that you didn't ask me for permission for my daughter's hand go, since I was in a different country," James said, his tone making it clear that he wasn't serious.

"Dad," Charlie gave him a look, but Damon smirked.

"No, he's right, I should've asked him. I can ask you now, but I gotta say. It's gonna be really awkward if you say no," Damon shot back.

James laughed, and then said, "I think that you and I need to get a drink, Damon." he said.

"Great idea, let's go now," Damon said, hoping that James wouldn't end up hating him like Karen had. There was only so much parental disapproval his marriage could take.

"Be nice, I love you," Charlie whispered as she hugged Damon goodbye. She was nervous, because despite what she said to her mother, it mattered to her if her father approved of Damon. Charlie couldn't help it, she was a daddy's girl.

After her father and her husband left, Charlie tried to relax, but it was impossible to, with her nerves. So Charlie instead cleaned the boarding house. It was a hell of job, too. She was sure that there were cobwebs on the ceiling that were older than Damon.

"Hey, Charlie," Elena greeted, as she walked in on the woman vacuuming the living room.

Charlie smiled back, and turned the vacuum off. "Hello, Elena," she said, just as Bonnie and Caroline walked into the room.

"We were just about to go to the grill. wanna come?" Elena asked.

Charlie shrugged. She hadn't had much girl time since she started dating Damon. it would be fun, she supposed. "If you two wouldn't mind," Charlie said to Bonnie and Caroline.

The blonde shook her head. "The more, the merrier," she smiled, and Bonnie nodded in agreement. In reality, both wanted to get to know Damon's wife better.

So Charlie agreed to go hang out with the witch, doppelganger, and vampire. Even though they were younger than her by a few years, Charlie liked them a lot. And the actually listened to her and Damon's story without judging, like her friends.

"Wow, it's like you completely changed him," Caroline said, and Charlie smiled slightly.

"No, he's still an arrogant jackass, just less of one than before," Charlie smirked slightly, before standing up to get the next round.

"Well, hello there."

Charlie rolled her eyes as she turned to the man next to her at the bar. She met her husband almost exactly like this. "Hello," she said politely.

"And what's your name?" the man purred. He was a few years older than her, and mildly attractive. But he was also a drunk, and a day drunk at that. Day drunks were just pitiful.

"Married, nice to meet you," Charlie said sarcastically, flashing her ring.

The man groaned. "Why are the hot ones always taken?" he whined, and Charlie laughed slightly.

"Must be a curse," Charlie mused, just as the bartender gave her the drinks.

"Hey married," the day drunk called to her as she walked away. "My name's Jason. Remember that when you get tired of your husband and white picket fence, okay?"

Charlie just rolled her eyes. "I wouldn't get my hopes up," she retorted, before walking back to her new friends.

"Who was that?" Caroline asked, as Charlie passed out drinks.

"Just some sad day drunk hitting on me," Charlie explained. "That's how I met Damon, though it was at night."

"So tell us about the wedding," Bonnie demanded, as Charlie sat back down.

"It was simple, a shotgun wedding," Charlie shrugged. "Damon compelled a few different people so that we could get married right away, and we got married two days after he proposed. It was nothing spectacular, there were no guests, but I loved it."

"What about your bachelorette party?" Caroline asked.

Charlie bit her lip. "I never had one. My friends weren't very supportive of my marriage. They weren't even invited."

"You didn't get a party?" Caroline frowned like several laws were broken in the act.

"It's no big deal, I don't need one," Charlie shrugged.

"It is a big deal, it's a rite of passage. Like your sweet sixteen, or getting wasted before you turn twenty one. Everyone needs to experience it," she argued.

Even after the conversation drifted away from Charlie's wedding, Caroline was still bothered. A few hours later, Charlie left the Grill, glad that she got her girl time. She really liked those girls.

"Hey babe," Damon greeted her when she came home. Charlie smiled when she saw him, and kissed him.

"How was drinking with my dad?" she asked after she pulled away.

"I think he likes me," Damon smirked victoriously. It had gone very well. James had given Damon the classic dad speech: "You hurt my daughter, I'll hunt you down." But despite that, James didn't show any signs that he was against Charlie and Damon's marriage.

"Great," Charlie beamed, and wrapped her arms around her husband's neck. "I had some bonding of my own," she informed him, resting her head on his chest.

"Oh, really? How'd that go?" Damon murmured, wrapping his arms around Charlie. She smiled in contentment, and closed her eyes.

"Some sad day drunk hit on me, and I have new friends," she summed up, feeling suddenly exhausted.

"Sounds eventful," Damon said. "How about we go to bed, Char?"

"No, I'm not tired," she argued, but Damon picked her up bridal style, and carried her up to their room.

Charlie was asleep in his arms before they even reached the room.

James took a sip of his scotch, as his ex-wife glared daggers at him. "What did you just say?" she hissed.

"I like Damon," he repeated. "Especially because he's head over heels in love with Charlie."

"But he's not good for her," Karen argued, stirring her tea.

James sighed, and looked around the hotel room he had rented out. "I think you're wrong there, Karen. Charlie's always been responsible. She's done everything she's told, everything expected of her. but she's never really gotten to _live. _I've never seen Charlie happier than when she is with her husband, and I don't think that you have the right to ruin that."

Karen glared. "But-"

"No, Karen. I'm telling you to leave Damon and Charlie alone. If you keep trying to ruin them, you're going to lose Charlie forever. And I don't think that you want that to happen, especially in her present state," James told his ex-wife.

Karen sighed, but heard his unspoken words loud and clear. Charlie had a very high chance of her heart failing in the next three months, let her be happy with a man who probably didn't deserve her, but was her world anyway.

Karen would try her best to listen to her ex-husband's words, but old habits die hard. And hating Damon Salvatore was a very old habit.

**A/N: **thank you to: jacquline, vdemily, Samantha meyers, Be My Baby, KimmyWSmith, SomebodyWhoCares, and Marina164509 for reviewing!

Keep the reviews coming!

~Abby :D


	13. i know i'm gonna fall down

Chapter twelve

"_I know I'm gonna fall down,"- Down by Jason Walker_

_Kingston, New York_

_Seven months ago_

_Damon had been avoiding Charlie ever since he'd admitted his love for her. it hurt Charlie, that the first time she ever told a guy that she loved him, he ran away. But she wouldn't let Damon get away, just because he was afraid to feel anything real._

"_You're something else, you know that?" Charlie glared at Damon, when she walked into a bar, to find him drinking. Damon had become a sad, pitiful day drunk._

"_Enlighten me, Charlie," Damon said, not drunk, only buzzed._

"_I tell you that I love you, you say it back- even though I told you that you didn't have to- and then you avoid me. who the bloody hell does that?" Charlie said, earning looks from the other sad day drunks._

"_You don't know anything, Charlie," Damon just shook his head at her, and her glare intensified._

"_Oh, I'd beg to differ. I know that you do love me, I'm sure of it. But you're so used to not being loved back, you're so scared of being hurt, you refuse to actually face your feelings. You're so god damn scared of feeling something other than lust, something deep and meaningful, you're just going to let me get away," Charlie said._

_Damon turned his icy blue eyes on her. "You don't want me to love you, Charlie. Trust me," he deadpanned._

_Before Charlie could talk herself out of it, she grabbed Damon by the arm and dragged him out of the bar. She pulled him down an empty alley. She finally let go off his arm, and turned to face him, a fierce look in her eyes. Damon just raised an eyebrow at the small human woman in front of him._

"_I have a heart disease," she blurted out._

"_I'm a vampire," he countered seconds after she blurted out her own secret._

The sun peeked out from behind the curtains, and shone down on Charlie's face. She slowly woke up, and groaned softly. As the fog of sleep slowly left her brain, she flipped onto her side, to find her sleeping husband next to her.

Charlie smiled softly, and kissed him gently. A mischievous smirk formed on her lips, and she kissed Damon again, this time harder. She crawled on top of him, and ran her fingers through his black hair, her lips never leaving his.

With a low growl, Damon flipped them over, and kissed his wife harder. Charlie giggled into his mouth, and wrapped her arms around his neck. she bit gently down on his lip, as his hand ventured up her thigh, and under her shirt.

"Charlie- oh, I'm so sorry!"

The couple broke apart, and Damon glowered at the doppelganger standing in the doorway. "Damn it, Elena," he grumbled, getting off of his wife.

Charlie smile apologetically at Elena. "It's okay, what do you need?" she asked kindly.

"I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out with Bonnie, Caroline, and me today," Elena asked, and Charlie beamed.

"Of course! Just give me time to get ready," she said excitedly, before getting out of bed. Elena left the room, as Charlie ran to her dresser.

"Does your new BFF know about your heart defect?" Damon asked from the bed.

Charlie didn't take her eyes off of clothes in her hands. "No, she doesn't, and I wish to keep it that way," she said, before holding up a navy dress and a black skirt and top.

"Which one?" she asked him.

"I thought that we had an understanding- I'm not the person to ask for fashion advice," Damon told her.

Charlie glowered, before marching out of their room, and downstairs. Elena was in the kitchen with Stefan. "Which one, Elena?" she asked, holding out the outfits.

"Um… the skirt," she told Charlie.

She smiled. "Thank you," she told her new friend, before walking back up to her room.

She set her outfit on the bed, where Damon still lay. Then she started unbuttoning her shirt, and walking towards the bathroom. "I'm going to take a shower," she announced. Charlie threw Damon a mischievous grin, before adding, "You're welcome to join me."

Damon pulled Charlie into the bathroom, and ripped her shirt off, before kissing her fiercely. Charlie just giggled in response, kissing her husband back, before slamming the door shut behind them.

_Kingston, New York_

_Seven months ago_

"_Excuse me?" Charlie said, her eyes wide._

"_You have a heart disease?" Damon asked, looking so concerned it would've melted Charlie's heart at any other moment. But he had just confessed to being a supernatural creature._

"_Vampires aren't real! You're insane!" Charlie exclaimed, backing away from him._

_Damon sighed. "I have to say Charlie, your reaction is a tad cliché."_

_Charlie just turned and ran from him. suddenly, Damon blocked her path. "H-how did you-?" Charlie stuttered, and Damon suddenly heard it. Her heartbeat was irregular. She really did have a heart disease._

"_I'm a vampire, Charlie," he repeated._

_Charlie's hazel eyes rolled into the back of her head, and she passed out._

"Elena, why do you have to cover my eyes?" Charlie asked, slightly amused, as Elena walked them into her house.

"We have a surprise for you," Elena smirked.

Elena removed her hands, and Charlie saw a room full of decorations. There were presents and booze, and Caroline and Bonnie was with them. Caroline looked very smug with herself.

"What is this?" Charlie asked.

"You said that you never had a bachelorette party, so we decided to change that," Bonnie said, smiling.

Charlie was touched. She smiled softy at her new friends. "You didn't have to do this," she said honestly.

"We wanted to," Elena told her.

"I wanted to get you a male stripper, but they wouldn't let me," Caroline told her, and Charlie laughed.

"It's fine. If Damon found out, he'd rip the stripper's throat out," Charlie told them, still touched by their kindness.

"Come on! Let's get this started," Caroline said cheerfully, before pouring four glasses of shots.

"To Charlie and Damon!" she toasted, passing out the shots.

Charlie bit her lip when Caroline gave her a shot. She couldn't drink because of her cardiomyopathy, but she didn't want to ruin the party with her bad news. So Charlie just threw her drink over her shoulder.

"Do you want to open your presents?" Bonnie asked after a few drinks, all of which Charlie pretended to drink.

Charlie nodded eagerly, and a rectangular box with pink wrapping was pushed into her hands. "It's from me," Caroline told her.

Charlie tore it open, and pulled out very racy red and black lingerie. She threw her head back and laughed. "Damon's gonna like this," she told her friends.

Another box was pushed into her hands, this one from Elena. She ripped it open, to reveal lacy and sensual lavender lingerie. "I'm sensing a pattern here," Charlie said, after she opened yet another present full of lingerie.

Stefan joined his brother in the living room. They hadn't talked since Charlie's secret was revealed. "I'm sorry," he blurted out to his older brother.

Damon raised his eyebrows. "For what?" he asked, pouring himself another drink.

"That Charlie's dying," Stefan said, and Damon flinched slightly. It was true though. No matter how well she seemed to be, how she played her disease off, Charlie was dying. If she didn't get a transplant soon, her heart would stop beating.

"She won't let me do anything," Damon said quietly. "She won't let me compel her heart, she won't let me change her into a vampire- I'm just supposed to act like everything's fine. I love her so god damn much, but she's in denial. A part of me thinks that she's given up all hope, but another part thinks that it really hasn't hit her. Charlie really doesn't think that she's going to die."

"Why did you come back, Damon? Charlie should've stayed in New York- it would've been better for her- yet you still came. Why?" Stefan asked.

Damon sighed. "Charlie is really, really stubborn."

_Kingston, New York_

_2 weeks ago_

_Charlie walked into her small living room, to hear her husband listening to a voicemail. She walked past him, a basket full of laundry in her arms, and towards their bedroom. Then she heard the message._

"_It's Elena. I don't expect anything from you, but I just thought you should know that Stefan was attacked a few days ago. He almost died. He's okay now, though. Anyway, I just thought you should know."_

_Elena was Katherine's doppelganger, and Stefan's girlfriend. Stefan was Damon's brother._

"_What happened to Stefan?" Charlie asked her husband, her eyebrows furrowed._

_Damon turned around to see his wife. He hadn't realized that she was there. "It seems that he was attacked," he answered casually._

"_Well, aren't you going to go back home? Make sure that he's okay?" Charlie demanded, frowning._

_A part of Damon wanted to- the only person in the world who got to mess with Stefan was him. but they wouldn't want him back, and he couldn't leave Charlie. "I don't think so, Char," he answered, walking into the kitchen._

"_What?" Charlie exclaimed, dropping the laundry on the floor, and following him. "He's your brother, Damon! you have to go!"_

_Damon sighed. Sometimes he wished that Charlie wasn't nearly as stubborn as she was. "I can't leave you, Charlie. Besides, they wouldn't want me there."_

"_I'll go with you then. I really want to meet Stefan," Charlie said._

"_No, you won't," Damon practically growled. Traveling long distances was terrible for her. Charlie might as well chug a forty ounce, and smoke a pack of cigarettes._

"_He's your brother, Damon," Charlie repeated. "If it was the other way around, Stefan would go to you."_

_Would he, though? Damon sighed, Charlie wasn't going to stop arguing with him until he agreed to go. "Fine, I'll go check up on him," he gave in._

_Charlie beamed. "Great, I'll help you pack."_

Stefan frowned slightly at his brother, just before Damon's cellphone went off. Damon checked the caller ID, to see that it was his wife.

"Hey babe," he said, turning away from his brother.

"_Hi, what are you doing?" _Charlie asked him.

"Nothing much," he told her, already pushing his conversation with Stefan out of his mind. "You?"

"_The girls surprised me with a bachelorette party," _Charlie said excitedly. Damon raised his eyebrows. That was one marriage experience that Charlie had missed out on.

"I hoping that there were no strippers there," he said casually, and Charlie laughed.

"_Don't worry too much about that. I would never leave my sexy vampire husband for a stripper- but ours did look pretty good in a G-string," _Charlie teased.

"Ha, ha. I'm laughing on the inside," he said sarcastically.

"_You're going to love my presents though," _Charlie told him.

"Ooh, what'd you get?" Damon asked.

"_Lingerie."_

"Is that all?" Damon asked, raising an eyebrow.

"_Yes. I now have more lingerie than Victoria's Secret," _Charlie said, though she wasn't complaining. Damon wasn't either.

"Well, you should come home and model some for me," Damon smirked.

"_As long as you don't rip them off of me. I really like them, Damon. I have no doubt that you will too. They leave absolutely nothing to the imagination," _Charlie said, and Damon's smirk grew.

"I can't wait. Get home soon," he said.

"_I'll be home in less than ten minutes, and then we can start our fashion show. I love you," _she told him.

"I love you too," he said, before hanging up.

Damon walked back into the living room, impatiently waiting for his wife to get home. He frowned when he saw his brother lying face down on the couch. "Stefan?" he called.

When Stefan didn't move, Damon walked closer to him. his eyes widened when he saw an arrow sticking out of his back.

"Stefan!" he exclaimed, and ripped the arrow out of his back.

Damon just had time to flip his brother over and see that he was still alive, before a stake was shoved through his back, just missing his heart.

Damon groaned, and fell to the floor. He tried to get a glimpse of his attacker, but then he was injected with something, and everything went black.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **thank you to: vdemily, Be My Baby, KimmyWSmith, jacquline, Marina164509, and SomebodyWhoCares for reviewing!

Reviews are inspiring ;)

~Abby :)


	14. give me love like her

Chapter thirteen

"_Give me love like her,"- Give Me Love by Ed Sheeran _

_Kingston, New York_

_Seven months ago_

_Charlie woke up on an extremely comfortable bed. She groaned softly, and sat up. She looked around the room that she was in, to realize that she had no idea where she was. but then her memory came back to her, and she remembered what Damon had told her._

_He was a vampire._

_She shook her head fiercely, her dark curls bouncing. Vampires weren't real, they didn't exist. And the man that she was in love with certainly wasn't one. He was just insane. She didn't know which was worse._

_Slowly, Charlie walked out of the room, and into the rest of the small apartment. She had no idea where she was, or if she was even in Kingston anymore. Worse, she didn't know if her crazy boyfriend who thought that he was a vampire was around._

"_Going somewhere?"_

_Charlie stiffened at his voice. She was feet from the door, and considered making a break for it. She sprinted towards the door, but suddenly Damon was blocking her path. So this was his apartment- she had yet to go back to his place, despite the fact that they've been dating for months._

"_Charlie, just let me explain," Damon told her, but Charlie was already backing away from him. he regretted telling her like this. It hurt more than he would admit, Charlie's reaction to his secret. The way she looked at him- like he belonged in a psych ward._

"_No, vampires don't exist, Damon. they aren't real!" she exclaimed._

_Damon sighed. Her reaction wasn't uncommon, but he almost expected her to be the exception, to not be afraid of him. that would've been stupid of Charlie, though. She should be scared of him._

"_I beg to differ," he said casually, hiding his true feelings behind an emotionless mask._

"_You have no proof," she shot at him, crossing her arms over her chest. now there was the stubborn, brave, and slightly reckless Charlie he knew and loved._

_Within an instant, Damon let his thirst take him over. His face contorted into a familiar one. Veins darkened under his eyes, his eyes turned dark reddish color. Charlie saw fangs protruding from his mouth, and she gasped._

"_Oh my god…" she breathed, backing into a couch. Damon's face went back to normal, and he watched Charlie with a resigned curiosity. He knew how the rest of this would play out._

"_Do you believe me now?" he asked quietly._

_Charlie didn't answer him. she looked to be in shock, and Damon sighed. He walked around her and into the kitchen. He poured himself a glass of whiskey- he needed one badly._

"_You really are a vampire."_

_Damon didn't look at Charlie, as she finally unfroze. "I am," he told her._

"_Oh my god…" she whispered, before shaking her head. "You're a bloody vampire!"_

_Damon smirked twistedly. "Funny you mention blood…" he pulled a bag out of the fridge, and heated it up in the microwave._

"_oh my god," Charlie repeated. She didn't know what to think, what to do. There were so many questions she wanted to ask, but didn't know how to go about asking them. She didn't know if this changed the way she felt about Damon. she just didn't know._

"_You look like you have a lot of questions," Damon, taking his blood out. Charlie's hazel eyes widened at the sight of him drinking the crimson liquid, and Damon smirked. _

"_I-I do," she said, determined not to leave until she had her answers. She wouldn't leave until she knew how to comprehend everything._

"_Well, ask away," Damon told her._

"_Okay. I want to know everything," Charlie said, her resolve setting._

"_Everything?" Damon asked, raising an eyebrow._

"_Yes. Everything about you and vampires. Everything," Charlie said._

"_Where should I start?" Damon sighed, and Charlie smirked slightly._

"_The beginning is usually a good place."_

Charlie hummed softly to herself, as she locked her truck. Her bags of lingerie were swinging from her arms, as she walked to the front door of the boarding house. She opened the door, and looked around. Dead silence filled the air, along with an almost foreboding stillness.

Charlie frowned, as she looked around for any signs of life. Damon was supposed to be home. She was supposed to give him fashion show that would end with her not wearing any clothes at all. where was her husband?

"Damon? love?" she called, setting down her bags. Instantly, Charlie regretted speaking. She stared down at a thick, dark, sticky liquid on the ground. That liquid, along with the dead silence, told her that something was wrong. Terribly wrong.

Fresh blood practically coated the floor.

She felt her heart start to beat irregularly, as she looked around for anything or anyone. Slowly, Charlie walked towards the living room, and picked up a heavy looking metal fire poker along the way. She raised it, ready to strike. Though she knew that it was likely that the intruder was a supernatural being. A young woman with a heart disease wielding a fire poker was no match for a vampire or a werewolf.

Charlie stopped just outside of the living room, when she heard unfamiliar voices. She stopped breathing, and listened to the intruders.

"… We're supposed to take them back!" a male voice insisted.

"Why not just finish them off right now?" another male voice argued.

"No, the order was to take them back. we do as we are told, Dmitri," a deep, haughty, masculine voice answered.

"Fine, Erik," Dmitri groaned. "But I get to rough Damon up a bit before we take them back," he added.

"Deal, as long as you kick him in the groin for me," Erik said.

Charlie's breath caught, and protectiveness flared up inside of her. no one hurt her husband. _No one._

She heard footsteps heading towards her, and raised her weapon, ready to strike. A tall, middle aged man passed her. he didn't even notice Charlie, as she swung the fire poker hard, and made contact with the back of his head.

With a groan of pain, he fell to the floor, knocked out. Blood splattered against the ground and the back of his shirt, and Charlie smiled smugly, proud of herself. Damon would've been proud of her too.

"Dmitri?" Erik called, and Charlie froze. She turned and ran down the hall, just before Erik came out of the living room.

"Oh, shit," he cursed, looking down at his partner's unconscious body. Luckily, Dmitri was a werewolf- he'd be up in no time.

Charlie slid silently into a closet, her heart beating wildly. What could she do? Who could she call? Alaric, maybe. Caroline was a vampire, she could definitely help Charlie out. Charlie patted her pockets, before cursing herself. She left her cellphone in her car. Of course. In the horror movies, the heroine always forgot her cellphone or car keys.

She knew that her best chance would be to make a run for it, but she didn't want to leave Stefan and Damon behind. The men would take them away, and then they would kill them. Charlie's heart skipped a beat. _No. _she would not lose Damon.

She took a deep breath, and listened intently. She had to get to the brothers and somehow- by nothing sort of a miracle- get the out of the boarding house. Or get them to wake up, so that they could take on the intruders. Charlie was a just a human with a defective heart. She couldn't fight. Even if the men were just human- which they most likely weren't- she couldn't fight them off on her own.

Charlie gritted her teeth, and her grip on her weapon tightened. She'd try her damn best though. One of the biggest things about Charlie was that she was a fighter. She didn't go down without a fight.

"_Come out, come out, where ever you are."_

Charlie stiffened at the voice- Erik's. "I can smell you, sweetie. I can hear your heart. It's just pounding away. You're terrified." He continued.

"I know who you are too, sweetie. You are Miss Charlotte Mathews- oh, I'm sorry, its Salvatore now, isn't it? Congratulations on the marriage, I guess."

Charlie gritted her teeth and made no move to leave. "I got to give props to Damon though. He has good taste in chew toys," Erik continued, and the other man laughed.

"Do you see what she has in here? _Lingerie." _He told to Erik, and anger flooded through Charlie.

"Oh, I bet he has her up all night. wouldn't you though too, Ernie? If your chew toy- sorry, I mean wife- was that hot? Oh, the things I would do to her," Erik growled lustily. "I wonder how her blood tastes. I'll have to sink my fangs into Missus Salvatore before I snap her pretty little neck."

Charlie felt disgust swell up inside of her. Damon rarely bit her- because her disease made it hard for her heart to produce blood. The few times he had though, she found it painful yet pleasurable. She couldn't imagine another vampire biting her. that was Damon's right, and his only.

"If you give up the game now, Missus Salvatore, I promise that your death will be almost completely painless. If you continue on, and I actually have to go looking for you, I'll make you suffer. The choice is yours," Erik announced, his voice echoing throughout the house.

Charlie let out a shaky breath. If she was going to go down, she'd go down fighting.

Charlie ran from the closet, trying to be as quiet as possible. It didn't matter though, she was dealing with a vampire. She heard a dark chuckle come from not too far behind her.

"Don't you humans know? Vampires love a good chase."

Charlie ran into the living room, Damon and Stefan still unconscious. From outside of the room, she could see Dmitri starting to awake. Charlie cursed, before running over to her husband and brother-in-law. She yanked the arrow out of Stefan's back, and pulled the stake from Damon. neither responded.

"Come on, love," Charlie whispered, and started patting Damon's pockets. She pulled out his cellphone, and felt hope sprout up inside of her. just as she was about to call somebody- anybody- she was grabbed by the neck.

"I see that you chose option B, missus Salvatore," Erik purred in her ear, crushing the cellphone. Charlie couldn't breathe- he was crushing her windpipe.

"Should I take the Salvatores out to the car?" Ernie asked, as Erik stroked Charlie's throat.

"Yes, I'll be done with her soon. I just to have my fun with Damon Salvatore's wife first," Erik told Ernie without taking his eyes off of Charlie.

Charlie felt sick, as Ernie walked around them to Stefan and Damon. she knew what he meant by "fun."

"Ugh," Dmitri groaned, sitting up. "What the hell happened to me?"

"Missus Salvatore is stronger than one would think, Dmitri," Erik told him casually, playing with one of Charlie's curls.

A sick smile twisted its way onto Dmitri's lips. "Are you saying that a _human _took me- a werewolf- out?" he asked with a disdain.

Erik smirked, amused. "Yes, it appears that you are no match for a weak little human," he told him, and Ernie snapped up and glared at him.

"Hey, I take offense to that," Ernie said defiantly. Despite her current situation, Charlie found it slightly amusing. Humans, vampires, and werewolves were all working together to kill the Salvatore brothers.

"You're different, Ern. You're a hunter," Dmitri said dismissively, and Erik's lip curled slightly.

"Yeah _hunter, _now go on and take the brothers outside. I'll take care of missus Salvatore," Erik turned his attention back to Charlie.

"No fair, Erik. She attacked _me, _I get to have her," Dmitri growled. Charlie felt like she was going to vomit. They were fighting over who got to rape her.

Ernie looked like he wanted to say something to the other two. He looked disgusted, even. Charlie pleaded with him with her hazel eyes. _please, help me, _she begged silently. He was a vampire hunter, he was supposed to protect humans from the supernatural.

But Ernie just shook his head, and went about dragging out the brothers. He started with Stefan first. Dmitri glared at Erik, and grabbed Charlie's arm. "Give her here," he growled.

Erik's grip tightened on her shoulder, and she gritted her teeth in pain. "Go _wolf, _she's mine. I'll let you have the leftovers," he growled back.

Charlie used the distraction to her advantage. She aimed a kick at Dmitri, and made contact with his groin. She kicked him so hard, pain shot through her leg. Dmitri howled in pain, and dropped to the floor.

"You little-" Erik growled, but Charlie used all her strength and body weight to push him into the roaring fire. Erik almost dragged her with him, but she managed to get away at the last second.

Both men screamed in pain, and Charlie quickly ran to her husband. "Damon please, get up. Please!" she begged, shaking him. she didn't know how to wake a comatose vampire.

"I am going to enjoy killing you," Dmitri growled, finally standing up. He helped Erik out of the fire, and his burns healed over quickly.

Charlie looked around for a weapon of any kind, but it was too late. Dmitri grabbed her from behind, and held her arms painfully behind her back. Erik sunk his teeth into Charlie's neck, his teeth ripping the flesh harder than necessary.

She tried to hold back her screams, but couldn't. she kicked, as Dmitri forcefully pulled down her jeans. Her kicks didn't do anything though, they just caused Erik to bite her harder.

"_Get your hands off of my wife."_

Despite just being attacked, Damon's absolute, white-hot rage seemed to triple his strength. His blue eyes were so cold, they looked like actual ice. He threw Erik across the room, and ripped Dmitri's head off of his body.

Charlie pulled away from the beheaded werewolf, blood streaming down her neck. she noticed that Damon's fangs were out, as he attacked Erik. She fell to her knees, and held hand to her wound, trying to apply pressure. She didn't realize that she was crying, until a tear fell onto her shirt.

With a sickening crunch, Charlie saw Erik's head fly off of his body. Damon turned his attention back to Charlie. His fangs were still out, veins were still darkened under his eyes. but at the sight of his injured wife crying on the floor, his face went back to normal, and he rushed to her.

"There's one more," she choked out, her blood running through her fingers. "Stefan…"

With a flash, Damon was gone. A second passed, and Charlie heard a scream. Two seconds passed, and Damon returned with Stefan, blood all over his mouth. He put Stefan down on the couch, and turned to Charlie.

"Come here, baby," Damon whispered, and Charlie practically sprinted into his arms. She buried her head into his chest, as he clutched her to him. he buried his face in her curls, and it disgusted him, that she smelled like that vampire and werewolf.

Damon bit his wrist, and Charlie swallowed a mouthful of blood. Her bite instantly started to heal, and then Damon pulled her back to him.

"I'm so, so sorry," he whispered to her over and over. Damon had nothing to be sorry about- he saved her from being raped by those two sick, disgusting monsters.

Charlie just closed her eyes and hugged him tighter to her- if it was even possible. She sighed, and mumbled "I love you," repeatedly into his shirt.

_You're okay. You, Stefan, and Damon are okay, _she told herself over and over. _Everything is going to be okay._

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **thank you to: Be My Baby, SomebodyWhoCares, KimmyWSmith, vdemily, Samantha meyers, and Marina164509 for reviewing!

I love reviews!

~Abby :)


	15. i have loved you from the start

Chapter fourteen

"_I have loved you from the start,"- Fall For You by Secondhand Serenade_

Charlie thrashed in her sleep, drenched in sweat from her nightmare. Damon awoke from his sleep when Charlie kicked him in the kidney. He was instantly alert, as his wife let out a scream.

"Charlie, wake up!" Damon shook her awake, and she let out a gasp, before her hazel eyes fluttered open.

"wha…" she mumbled, as Damon listened to the irregular beating of her heart. He pulled Charlie into his arms, and soothingly rubbed her back, trying to calm her down.

"You had another nightmare, Char," he told his wife casually, as she hugged him almost subconsciously.

It had been three days since the attack, and Charlie had been having nightmares every single night since. White-hot rage ran through Damon's veins, whenever he thought about the vampire and werewolf, who were about to rape her. he only wished that he had had time to properly torture them, before killing them.

She still smelled like them, to him. he could still see the bruises on her arms and shoulders where they had grabbed her roughly. Damon gritted his teeth at the thought of those two touching his wife, his Charlie. His fingers brushed the spot on her neck, where the vampire had bit her. the idea of another vampire biting her, drinking her blood, just made Damon's anger that much more worse.

"I… I can still feel his fangs in my neck," Charlie mumbled into Damon's chest suddenly. "I can't stop thinking about it."

Damon's grip on her tightened for a millisecond, before he thought better and released her before he hurt her. he didn't want to hurt Charlie any more than she had already been hurt- physically and mentally. She was scarred by the whole experience, her nightmares proved that. And Damon didn't even want to know how this would affect her condition. Oh, if he could only bring those three bastards back from the dead…

"I want you to bite me," Charlie said suddenly, looking up at her husband with a determined gaze.

"What?" he asked, frowning down at her. no, it wouldn't help Charlie's heart condition at all.

"Please, love. If you bite me, then…" she didn't finish her sentence, but Damon knew what she wanted to say. _Then I wouldn't think about him biting me, only you. _She wanted to replace that horrific memory with him.

Damon considered it, and really wanted to. It would be like claiming her as his again. Charlie would be marked as his. And he would be gentle, he wouldn't take too much blood. It would be good for both of them.

Damon kissed Charlie softly on the lips, before kissing down her jaw to her neck. he stopped at her jugular, and felt her pulse beneath his lips. Gently, Damon kissed her neck, and Charlie sighed softly. Her fingers ran through his hair, as she felt his fangs scrape against her neck.

With a hiss of pain from Charlie, Damon bit down into her skin. He removed his fangs quickly, as to not hurt her any more than necessary. She sighed in pleasure, as he gently sucked her blood. Damon's lips moved against the bite mark, and it was as if he was just kissing her neck. after Damon figured he had taken enough, he pulled away and licked the remaining blood from the bite.

Damon gave Charlie enough blood to stop the bleeding, but wanted her to be marked by him. he wiped his bloody lips, and then kissed his wife, before pulling her even closer to him.

"Thank you," she sighed, closing her eyes.

Damon smirked slightly, and kissed her forehead. "You don't need to thank me for biting you, Char. I'll bite you whenever you want," he said lightly.

Charlie just smiled slightly in response, before falling asleep in his arms. That was the first time since the attack that she didn't wake up screaming.

* * *

><p>"You really should be taking it easy, Charlotte."<p>

"Charlie," she corrected the middle aged doctor, as he finished giving her a checkup. She was alone at the hospital, since Damon was now obsessed with finding out that their attackers were and why they wanted him and Stefan dead. He was out doing some digging on the werewolves he had found earlier that week, but would be picking her up.

"Charlie," Doctor Woods said. "You're putting too much stress on your heart. it's a strange occurrence that your symptoms don't line up with how serious your cardiomyopathy is, but don't let that make you think that that isn't there."

_Not an occurrence, just vampire blood, _Charlie thought. "Any news about my heart transplant?" she asked.

The middle aged woman sighed. "About that… Miss Salvatore-"

"Missus Salvatore," she corrected again.

"Missus Salvatore, I'm afraid that your condition is worsening faster and more drastically than we had hoped," she told Charlie with a sympathetic look.

"Are you saying that I won't live long enough to have the transplant?" Charlie's breath caught in her throat.

"No, I'm not," Doctor Woods said quickly. "I'm saying that the best thing for you would be to stay at the hospital, so that you can be properly observed-"

"I'm not living in a hospital," Charlie said shortly, in a voice that made it clear that her decision wasn't up for discussion.

Doctor Woods sighed. "Fine, it was merely a suggestion. But if you choose to live outside of the hospital, you need to relax. No exciting or stressful situations. You need relaxation and rest. Get that husband of yours to give you a massage." The doctor smiled slightly.

Charlie smiled slightly, before frowning. "Does this mean that I can't have sex anymore?" she asked, disappointed.

The doctor chuckled at Charlie's bluntness. "If you take things slow and don't have sex every single day, I don't see why you can't."

Charlie smiled, before standing up. "Thanks Doctor," she said kindly, before leaving.

She was glad that she could still have sex, because she needed it. When Damon had bitten her that morning, it made her stop thinking about Erik biting her. she assumed that the same would work having sex with Damon, to forget that she was almost raped. Besides, Damon needed a good distraction.

He thought that he was hiding his rage from her, but Charlie knew her husband too well. She was sure that she still smelled like Erik and Dmitri to him, and that was causing his vampire possessiveness of her to rear its head. Charlie was sure that both of them just needed some great sex.

Charlie hummed to herself as she waited for Damon to pick her up. She played with her wedding ring as she sat on a bench outside of the hospital. It was a nice day- the sun was out, and the sky was a bright blue.

"Hey, Married."

Charlie frowned. That voice was vaguely familiar. She looked up to see the pitiful day drunk Jason smirking down at her. "Jason, right?" she asked.

Jason placed a hand over his heart and feigned hurt. She offered him a half smile, and he sat down next to her. "What are you doing here, Married?" he asked.

Charlie wasn't going to tell the sad day drunk about her heart disease, so she lied. "I have a friend in here. She broke a few bones, nothing serious. Now I'm waiting for _my husband _to pick me up."

She was hoping that Jason would take the hint and leave. "You don't need to drop hints about your husband, Married. I'm above hitting on married chicks. But if you wanted to ditch that loser husband of yours, that's different…" he smirked slowly at her.

Charlie frowned at him. "I wouldn't get my hopes up. My loser husband is pretty good in bed," she said jokingly, though it was true. Damon was amazing in bed.

"Not as good as me, I bet," he whispered in her ear, and Charlie jumped up. The whole situation just went from innocent flirting to downright creepy.

As if hearing her prayers, Damon's Camaro pulled up in front of the hospital at that moment. Charlie hurriedly ran to it, not bothering to say goodbye to Jason. But that didn't stop him.

"See you around, Married," Jason called to her, giving Damon a challenging smirk. Then he walked back into the hospital.

Charlie got into the passenger seat, and took a deep breath. She had to relax, or the doctor was going to force her to live in the hospital. She gave Damon a sweet, chaste peck on the lips, as he put the car in drive.

"Who was that guy?" Damon asked with fake casualness. Charlie saw the jealousy in his eyes clear as day.

"The sad, pitiful day drunk from the Grill a few days ago. No big deal," she played off. she didn't mention how creepy he had gotten before Damon had shown up, or else she would no doubt find his obituary in the paper in the next few days.

Charlie's eyes wandered over to her husband, and her breath caught in her throat when she saw blood on his hands and shirt. "What happened?" she asked, instantly concerned.

Damon looked down at the blood in his hands, and shrugged. "The werewolves I found didn't have anything to do with the attack," he said.

"Did you kill them?" Charlie asked with a slight frown.

Damon raised an eyebrow at his wife. "I had to, Char. If I didn't, they would've come after me, and then they would've tried to hurt you-" Damon suddenly gripped the steering wheel so hard, his knuckles turned white.

Damon took a deep breath, and his grip relaxed. "I had to torture them into giving up some information, they were already half dead."

Charlie nodded, still finding his worry and concern over her safety sweet and adorable. They drove in silence for the next few minutes. Damon finally broke it when they pulled in front of the boarding house. "You know that I'll never let anything happen to you, right?" he asked her in a soft tone.

Charlie smiled softly, though he couldn't promise that. No one could. Still it was sweet, and so far, he had kept his promise- besides her cardiomyopathy, though that was nobody's fault. Looking into Damon's icy blue eyes, it suddenly occurred to Charlie that Damon felt guilty, over what had happened to her, the night of the attack. He also felt guilty for the nightmares that had plagued her every night since.

Charlie kissed her husband fiercely, wanting to kiss away his guilt. It wasn't his fault. The only people at fault were their attackers, and now they were burning in hell- where they belonged. Damon kissed her back, but was hesitant at first.

With a sigh, Charlie pulled away. Suddenly, an idea came to her, and she smirked mischievously at her husband, before getting out of the car. Damon raised his eyebrows at her retreating figure, and slowly followed her inside of the boarding house.

Charlie grinned at Elena and Stefan, who were sitting on the couch, and waved at them, before running up the stairs to her bedroom. She went into the bathroom, and started the bathtub. Then she started stripping off her clothes, the perfect plan of how to relax with Damon forming in her mind.

Damon followed Charlie's path up to their bedroom, bemused at her behavior. But as soon as he walked into their bedroom and saw her clothes scattered across the floor and heard running water, he had an idea of what she was up to.

"Hello love," Charlie grinned, when he walked into the bathroom. Charlie was in the bathtub, her body almost completely covered by suds. He saw the mark he had made that morning on her neck. "Care to join me?"

Damon started stripping instantly, and then joined his wife in the bathtub. She giggled when he pulled her into his arms, her back against his chest. "So, what was with your sudden desire to take a bath?" Damon asked curiously, showering her neck with kisses.

Charlie giggled again. "because bathtub sex is hot." Was all she murmured, before attaching her lips against his in a heated kiss.

Damon growled slightly into her mouth, before kissing her back. Charlie had hoped that, by sleeping with her husband, the horrific memory of Dmitri and Erik would be forgotten. Her hope was fulfilled. Dmitri and Erik were practically erased from her memory, as Damon took her in the bathtub.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **thank you to: Kimmy W. Smith, Be My Baby, jacquline, and SomebodyWhoCares, for reviewing!

Reviews are inspirational ;)

~Abby!


	16. i don't love you and i always will

Chapter fifteen

"_I don't love you and I always will,"- Poison & Wine by The Civil Wars _

_Kingston, New York_

_Seven months ago_

_Damon had explained it all to Charlie. He told her about vampires and their powers- his powers. He also told her all about him and other supernatural creatures. Charlie sat quietly as he talked. She didn't talk, she didn't move. Damon was worried that once he stopped talking, she'd run screaming from the room. But then a part of him expected her to. He was a vampire, a monster. She should be afraid._

"_Well?" Damon asked after he finished explaining everything to her._

_Charlie didn't respond, and she seemed to be processing everything. "I get it, you can leave. I won't kill you in your sleep, Charlie," Damon said suddenly, resigned. _

_Charlie's hazel eyes looked up at him, surprised. "Well, I sure hope not. But thank you for clarifying that with me," she told him._

_Damon frowned at her. "Aren't you scared of me?"_

"_Honestly?" Charlie sighed. "A little bit, yes," she admitted._

_Damon didn't expect anything less, but he still flinched slightly when the words came out of her mouth. "You should be, Charlie," he told her honestly._

"_I mean, you just told me that you're a vampire, Damon. Of course I'm scared! But… I still love you," Charlie said, her eyes widening at how honest she was being._

_Damon slowly turned around to face her. "You do?" he asked quietly._

_Charlie nodded slowly. "I love you, Damon. And not even you being a vampire can change that."_

_Damon stared at the little human woman who had brought out his humanity those past months. He was a monster, and still she loved him. Slowly, Charlie made her way to him. She wrapped her arms around him, but he remained stiff. _

"_Just say that you love me too, okay?" Charlie whispered to him._

_He did. Damon did so much that it scared him. But if he told her now that he didn't, she wouldn't be stuck with a monster. Now was Damon's moment to be selfless with Charlie. He opened his mouth, but the words got stuck in his throat._

"_I love you," Damon whispered finally, before hugging Charlie to him._

* * *

><p>"I get bathtub sex <em>and <em>a lingerie fashion show on the same day? Either I did something right, or you did something wrong."

Charlie giggled, as she spun around in a satin and lace number. "I just thought that both of us could use the distraction," she explained, her wet hair dripping onto her pale skin.

"I'm noticing a pattern. It seems like lately whenever we have sex, it's to distract us," Damon mused, his eyes roaming over his wife's curves, accented by the black lace.

"Well, it does provide an excellent distraction, doesn't it?" Charlie countered, before changing into a lacy red one piece.

"You were right- they really do leave nothing to the imagination," Damon said his voice thick with desire.

Charlie only had time to smile, before Damon pulled her into his arms. She giggled against his lips, her wet hair dripping onto his bare chest. She moaned out loud, as his lips traveled from her mouth to her neck. Damon pulled the red lace from her, careful not to rip it. He really liked that one.

After their second round of sex that day, Charlie rested her head on her husband's bare chest. She was half asleep; Damon had tired her out today. "So how did the doc's go?" Damon asked as he pulled the body tighter around them.

"Fine. She says that I have to rest, and that you should give me massages," Charlie mumbled. She purposefully didn't tell Damon about how her cardiomyopathy was worsening- it would kill the mood.

"Well, I would right now, but I know what it would lead to, and you look like you're going to pass out any second now," Damon mused.

Charlie mumbled something unintelligible in response, before falling asleep in his arms.

* * *

><p>When Charlie woke up the next morning, Damon wasn't next to her. She frowned slightly, before finding a note in his hand writing on the nightstand.<p>

_Mrs. Salvatore-_

_You're on bed rest today. No arguments, no excuses. I got a call from your doc saying that you need relaxation, so you will be relaxing. When I get back, I'm going to give you the best damn massage of your life, and it will- unfortunately- not lead to sex._

_Love, Mr. Salvatore_

Charlie giggled at his note, before lying back down on the bed. She could handle with being lazy for a day. The only time she got out of bed was to take a relaxing bubble bath- which wasn't nearly as good as yesterday's.

At one in the afternoon, Damon returned to her. She was reading a book, when suddenly she had her back against Damon's chest, and he was slowly kneading at her shoulders. She sighed in contentment, as Damon kissed her neck in greeting.

"Where did you go?" she asked, as her husband massaged away the knots of stress at her neck and shoulders.

"Can't tell you, it would break the rules of your stress-free day," Damon told her casually, and Charlie frowned.

"That just makes me more stressed, Damon," she argued.

"Don't worry about it," he told her, his hands kneading away the knots of stress.

"But-" she started to argue, but was silenced with a kiss.

"Don't worry about it," he repeated.

Charlie just sighed, and leaned against her husband. She closed her eyes and relaxed as Damon massaged her. Ten minutes later, he pulled away when all the knots of stress were gone from her.

"You should give me a foot massage now," Charlie said with a slight smirk, lifting up her bare feet. Damon sighed, before moving out from behind her, and shifting his wife so that she was lying on the bed and her feet were in his lap.

"So, can you tell me why vampires, werewolves, and hunters would all team up to kill the Salvatore brothers? Who did you two piss off?" Charlie asked after a few minutes of comfortable silence.

Damon sighed, but decided to give into his wife and talk about the attacks with her. "I don't know. I figured that Stefan's attack was just a way to get at me, but apparently not. My guess is that both of us have pissed of each group separately, and now they've decided to team up." What he didn't say to Charlie was that he was worried that the vampires, werewolves, and hunters would hurt her to get to him. He didn't want to scare her.

Charlie closed her eyes again, as Damon rubbed her feet. He was glad that she was finally getting some relaxation since coming to Mystic Falls. When he started to hear her deep breaths that indicated she was sleeping, Damon stopped massaging her feet and threw a blanket over his sleeping wife.

Damon left his room to let Charlie sleep, and walked down the stairs to the living room. Damon had spent most of the morning looking for any sign of his and Stefan's attackers with Alaric and Stefan. They didn't have any luck, though. It seemed like the werewolves Damon killed yesterday was the only sign of anything supernatural in town- besides the brothers.

As Damon made his way to the kitchen for blood, he suddenly heard a very unwelcome voice coming from the living room. He groaned out loud. James had told him when they went to the bar that he was going to talk to her, but yet, here she was.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't my favorite mommy-in-law," Damon drawled, as he walked into the living room. Karen Hart was talking to Stefan and Elena, but she narrowed her eyes when she saw Damon.

"Where's my daughter?" she asked sharply.

"Sleeping," he answered coolly, walking up to his brother's side.

"Every time I come over here, she's sleeping," Karen complained.

Damon bit back a retort about how he tires her out, and just smirked at his mother-in-law. "Maybe she's just hiding. "I can wait for her," she said, trying to hold back her anger.

"Please don't," Damon begged.

"Mum? What are you doing here?" Charlie yawned, as she walked towards them. Damon frowned slightly; Charlie needed to relax, and Karen being here was only going to stress her out more.

"I need to talk to you, sweetheart," Karen told her, giving Charlie a smile. Despite the fact that she hated Damon, Karen really did love her daughter. Maybe it was because she loved Charlie that she hated Damon.

"Okay," she sighed, resigned. "Let's go outside, I could use some fresh air."

Charlie and Karen walked out of the boarding house. As soon as they were gone, Elena and Stefan turned to Damon. "That's Charlie's mom?" Elena asked.

Damon groaned, and walked towards the kitchen. "She just loves you, doesn't she?" Stefan said sarcastically, as Damon poured himself a glass of blood.

"Please, this is the best she's ever treated me. Last time I saw her, she was trying to convince me to leave Charlie," Damon admitted, downing the crimson liquid. "James- Charlie's dad- came here though, and talked to Karen about it, though. Apparently, she took his words to heart."

Damon wasn't completely convinced, though. Karen hated him too much just accept his marriage with her daughter. He couldn't imagine what her reaction would be if she found out that he was a vampire.

"What did you want, mum?" Charlie asked, as she inhaled the fresh air. It was another great day- the sun was out, the birds chirping. There wasn't a cloud in the sky.

"I wanted to apologize, Charlotte. Your father has made it clear to me that I will lose you if I keep trying to tear you and Damon apart," Karen told her daughter.

Charlie softened. "I love both of you, mum," she told her.

"I know, honey. I'll work on keeping my thoughts to myself," Karen said, before hugging her. Charlie returned the hug, glad that her mother seemed to accept her love for Damon, finally.

It was an act, though. Only Karen herself knew that. She would only be much more covert on trying to drive Charlie and Damon apart. It was foolish, to be so open about it in the first place. She was placing more stress on Charlie, more stress on her heart.

"How about you go get dressed, and we can go out for lunch?" Karen offered, eager to spend time with her daughter. Despite her overbearing nature, the two were close before Damon came into the picture.

Charlie nodded eagerly, before hurrying back into the house to change. Karen got a peek of Charlie kissing her husband sweetly, before the door shut. Even though they seemed to be a sweet couple, Karen was convinced that it would be better for Charlie if Damon wasn't in her life.

Besides, what mother would want their daughter to be married to a vampire?

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **thank you to: Samantha meyers, Be My Baby, KimmyWSmith, jacquline, SomebodyWhoCares, and vdemily for reviewing!

Keep the reviews up!

~Abby ;)


	17. you and i'll be safe and sound

Chapter sixteen

"_You and I'll be safe and sound,"- Safe and Sound by Taylor Swift featuring the Civil Wars_

"So how was lunch with mommy dearest?"

Charlie sighed contently, as Damon wrapped his arms around her waist from behind, as she folded laundry. It was the day following her lunch with her mother. The two had been out all night, talking and catching up. When Charlie did get home, the first thing she did was pass out in their bed.

"Great, actually. She didn't say a word about our marriage," Charlie said, a little surprised.

"I don't buy it for a second," Damon said, resting his chin on her shoulder.

"Me neither. It's an act, it has to be. She hates you too much," Charlie agreed. If something was too good to be true, it probably was.

"Well, I'm torn with just compelling her to like me, or move far, far away. I'm getting sick of her trying to break us up," Damon complained.

Charlie sighed. "I kind of want to believe that she accepts us, though," she admitted, folding a shirt

"I hate to shatter your hopes of your mom exactly accepting our marriage, Char, but it's never going to happen. Like you said, she just hates me too much," Damon pointed out, as Charlie finished with the laundry.

She sighed, but silently agreed with him. "So, what's the plan for today?" she asked her husband to change the subject, before sitting down on the bed.

"When's the last time I took you out on a date?" Damon asked abruptly.

Charlie raised an eyebrow. "Um, since we were dating," she answered, frowning slightly at the random question.

"Well, how about we fix that. I'm going to take you to the movies today, and then we have some founding family event to go to tonight," Damon shrugged.

Charlie smiled, excited. "Can I drag you to see a chick flick?" she teased.

Damon groaned. "Please don't."

"But I know that you're going to want to see that scary movie _The Woman In Black, _and then I'm not going to be able to sleep tonight," she whined.

Damon groaned. Only Charlie would ever, ever be able to convince him to sit through a romantic comedy. "You owe me big time for this," he told her.

Charlie beamed up, and Damon instantly decided that her smile made sitting through a crappy movie worth it. "I promise that we can sit in the back of the theater and make out like teenagers," she told him.

Damon smirked as Charlie stood up to go get ready. Maybe seeing a crappy chick flick wouldn't be so bad after all.

_Kingston, New York_

_Nine months ago_

"_Hello Karen, is Charlie ready?"_

_Karen frowned in distaste at her daughter's date, standing on their front porch._

"_She'll be down soon," she replied shortly._

"_I'm almost ready!" Charlie shouted down from her room, and Damon smiled slightly, but then caught himself._

_Without a moment's thought, Karen blurted out rather rudely, "Leave my daughter alone, Damon."_

_His eyebrows shot up. "Excuse me?"_

"_She doesn't need this right now, she doesn't need you. I know what you are, you're the kind of man who breaks women's hearts for a living. Charlie doesn't need any more damage done to her heart," she muttered the last part._

"_I'm not going to leave her alone, Karen. End of story," Damon told her simply, but with an edge in his voice._

"_If you really cared about her, you would," Karen argued._

_Damon frowned slightly. He did care about Charlie, that's exactly why he couldn't leave her alone._

"_Maybe you should take this up with your daughter," Damon told her quietly. Karen glowered, and he knew that she already had._

"_I'm ready!" Charlie announced, running down the stairs. She beamed when she saw Damon, and kissed him in greeting. _

"_Don't wait up, mum," Charlie told her mother, before pulling Damon towards his car. Karen shot Damon one last glare, before shutting the door._

_That was the first time Karen had ever made her hatred for Damon common knowledge._

"I can't believe that we got kicked out of the theater."

Charlie was mortified, but Damon found the entire situation hilarious. They had been kissing rather passionately in the back of the movie theater. They hadn't even gotten to see a lot of the movie. But then an usher had interrupted them just as Damon was unhooking Charlie's bra, and told them to leave.

"It was funny Char, just admit it," Damon argued, as they walked into the boarding house.

"It was mortifying!" Charlie exclaimed, her pale skin bright red.

"What happened?" Stefan asked from his position on the couch with Elena next to him.

"Charlie and I got kicked out of a movie theater for making out," Damon shrugged. Stefan laughed, and Charlie's blush deepened.

"Do you know how humiliating it is to walk out of a movie theater with your bra unhooked? It was like everybody _knew. _Mums gave us dirty looks," Charlie complained.

Elena laughed, and Charlie glared at her. "It's a little funny, Charlie," Elena insisted.

Charlie sighed, and hid a slight smile from her husband. It _was _a little funny. It could've been worse, too. At least Damon wasn't groping her or anything like that. "I'm never going to be able to go back their again," Charlie told them, before walking up the stairs to their bedroom.

"_It's funny and you know it," _Damon insisted, following her up the stairs to their bedroom. Charlie sighed, before laughing out loud.

"We got kicked out of a movie theater for PDA," Charlie said out loud, a grin on her face.

What was worse was that it wasn't even the couple's first time being kicked out of a place for making out. A few months ago, they got kicked out of a store for doing more than just trying on clothes in a dressing room.

"It's funny," Damon repeated, pulling her into his arms.

"Yes, I suppose it is." Charlie grinned into his shoulder, before wrapping her arms tightly around his neck.

"How long until we have to go to this founder thing tonight? What is it exactly?" Charlie asked without pulling away.

"Another one of Mystic Fall's too many celebrations. It's a ball for some sort of charity. We can just walk in, write a check, and walk out," Damon told her, but Charlie frowned.

"It sounds fun," she argued. It had been a while since she got to properly dress up.

"It really isn't," Damon told her. then he sighed at her defiant expression. The things he put himself through for her. "But we'll stay as long as you want."

Charlie beamed and kissed him quickly. "I love you," she told him, before walking towards the door. She needed Elena's advice on what to wear, she's probably been to dozens of these things before.

"We leave in two hours!" he called to her retreating figure. Damon sighed again. He wasn't looking forward to having to spend hours at this ball thing. It was a testament of Damon's love for Charlie, that he let her talk him into doing things like that.

* * *

><p>"How do I look?"<p>

Charlie was slightly nervous. She had to look her best, because they were bound to run into some of Damon's exes. She could already hear their snide remarks about her bloated stomach and swelled up ankles.

"As gorgeous as you did in the last three dresses, Char," Damon sighed in slight exasperation. He didn't mind that Charlie was taking forever to get dressed, though. It just meant less time they would have to spend at the ball tonight.

Charlie stared at her reflection in a green dress. It brought out the green in her hazel eyes, and hid her bloated stomach well. She would stick with this one. "Okay, I'm ready," she said firmly, grabbing her purse.

Damon grabbed her shoulders before she could walk to the door though. "You really do look beautiful though, Charlie," he insisted honestly, and she blushed slightly.

He kissed her softly, his hand going up into her curled hair. Charlie sighed, and wrapped her arms around him. she almost considered staying home and letting Damon tear off her dress, but she really was looking forward to going to this founding family event.

"Okay, let's go," Charlie said, pulling away from Damon before he could talk her into staying. Damon groaned slightly, but allowed his wife to pull him towards the door. Just then, he noticed a hint of black lace beneath the green dress.

"And what do we have here?" Damon asked, his fingers grazing the strap of her lacy bra. He could only imagine that she had matching panties underneath. Or even better- nothing.

Charlie smirked up at him. "You do deserve some sort of reward for humoring me tonight," she told him vaguely, before pulling him towards his car.

At the event, Damon instantly grabbed a glass of bourbon for himself and water for Charlie. He planned to be at least buzzed, if he was going to survive the fake smiles and insincere congratulations on his marriage.

"You're not getting drunk tonight." Charlie frowned at Damon as he downed his second glass of bourbon.

"And miss out on your plans for after this thing? I don't think so." Damon smirked down at his little wife. He could only imagine what she had in store for him.

She smiled cryptically up at him, before pulling him towards the dance floor. "Dance with me!" she exclaimed, her smile lighting up her face.

Damon pulled her to him, and they slowly swayed on the dance floor. Charlie rested her head on his shoulder, and closed her eyes. they stayed like that for a few songs, just swaying side to side, until they were interrupted by an unwelcomed voice.

"Charlotte! Damon! I've been looking all over for you!" Karen exclaimed, causing the couple to break apart.

Damon glared at his mother-in-law, while Charlie sighed. "Yes, mum?" she asked, her fingers entwining with Damon's.

"I brought alone a special surprise for you, Charlotte," Karen told her, before gesturing behind her.

Charlie's eyebrows furrowed before her eyes widened to the size of plates. "Oh no," she whispered, as a familiar young man walked up to them.

"Hey Charlie," he greeted her with a charming smile.

Damon instantly disliked the man for the way he looked at his Charlie. "Uh, Hi Ben. This is my _husband _Damon," Charlie introduced them apprehensively.

"Nice to meet you, Damon," Ben said with forced politeness. Damon just nodded.

Charlie sighed. "Damon, this is Ben, my ex-fiancé."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **thank you to: vdemily, Samantha meyers, Be My Baby, jacquline, KimmyWSmith, SomebodyWhoCares, anotheruntoldstory, and Marina164509 for reviewing!

Reviews are inspirational!

~Abby ;)


	18. i'll drown and make her mine

Chapter seventeen

"_I'll drown and make her mine,"- She (For Liz) by Parachute_

_Kingston, New York_

_4 years ago_

_Charlie paced her boyfriend's bedroom while he just sat on his bed and stared blankly up at him. Ben had known that Charlie had cardiomyopathy ever since she was diagnosed with it, but this news was terribly bad news._

"_You need a heart transplant?" Ben repeated her words, and Charlie stopped her pacing. He could see that she was trying her best to hold herself together, while she just wanted to fall apart. Charlie was eighteen years old, and she needed a heart transplant._

_She nodded slowly, fearing the worst. Ben had been there for her ever since she was diagnosed, but what nineteen year old college boy wanted to date a girl with a defective heart? She expected him to break up with her, because it would be too much. Most boys at her high school would've._

"_Marry me," Ben suddenly blurted out at her._

_Charlie froze, not expecting those words. "What?" she whispered dumbly._

"_Marry me, Charlie Mathews," Ben repeated, getting down on one knee. "I don't have a ring, but I'll get you one."_

_Charlie stared down at him, hazel eyes wide. They were just barely adults. She was still in high school. Charlie had a heart disease that just might kill her. They were so young, and Charlie had just started saying 'I love you' to him. It was stupid, foolish. Their marriage never would work._

_She blamed it on how emotional she was. She had just found out that she needed a new heart- her emotions were haywire. She wasn't in a particular condition to emit good judgment. But still, Charlie uttered one word that she would regret._

"_Yes."_

"Ex-fiancé?" Damon repeated, looking frozen in shock.

"Charlie didn't tell you that we were engaged?" Ben asked with a slight smirk.

"For like, five minutes," Charlie said quickly, glaring at Ben.

"More like three months," Ben corrected her.

Charlie narrowed her eyes at him. "We were not engaged for three months!"

He rolled his brown eyes at her. "You had half of the wedding planned before you called it off."

"I've had my wedding planned since I was eight!" Charlie retorted.

"Tell me Char; did your wedding live up to the one in your head?" Ben asked, and Charlie glared at him. She knew what he was trying to do.

Damon's eyes snapped to Ben when he heard him use _his _nickname for _his _Charlie. He wanted to tear his heart out so badly. "Yes, it did," Charlie said gruffly, and Damon had no idea what they were talking about.

"Please Charlotte- you had no guests, it was at a small church I've never even heard of, and you didn't even have a reception!" Karen argued, and Charlie turned her furious gaze onto her mother. She wanted to yell at her for bringing Ben here, but she didn't trust Damon not to kill Ben if she left them alone together.

"Yes, but the honeymoon was a blast," she retorted with a smirk. Ben's eyes widened, before narrowing in jealousy. Her mum just gaped at her.

"I need to talk to my wife alone," Damon growled suddenly, before yanking her away. His grip on her wrist was tight, and it hurt.

"Ow!" she whimpered, and Damon instantly let go even if he was furious at her for not telling him that she was engaged before him, but he didn't want to hurt Charlie. He never wanted to hurt Charlie.

"I'm sorry," he said immediately, as Charlie rubbed her wrist. There would be bruises.

"It's okay." She sighed. Charlie didn't blame him for being angry. She knew that he would never hurt her on purpose.

"How come you never said that you were engaged?" Damon asked her, his blue eyes icy with anger and jealousy.

Charlie hung her head. "I'm sorry, I should've. It just didn't seem that important, and I didn't like to think about it."

"Not important? Charlie you were _engaged. _That's important!" Damon snapped.

Charlie opened her mouth to answer, but Damon just continued talking. "I'm not even mad that you were engaged. You hid it from me. I'm not worried about that guy Ben coming in and sweeping you off of your feet again, but if you hid your engagement from me, then should I be?"

"Of course not," Charlie said quickly, pleading to Damon with her eyes. "I should've told you, I know. I'm sorry that I didn't, but I would _never _choose Ben over you, Damon. I married _you_- remember that."

Damon shook his head slightly. As if Charlie's condition, a bitchy mother-in-law, and the mysterious group of vampires, werewolves, and hunters running around wasn't enough for him to deal with. Now he had his wife's exe, who would undoubtedly try to get her back.

"I need air," he muttered, before walking away.

Charlie sighed, but let him go. He needed to think, and Charlie needed to murder her mother.

"_What the hell is wrong with you?" _Charlie snarled, marching up to her mother.

"Oh, is everything between you and Damon okay, Charlotte?" Karen asked with fake innocence.

"I told you, time and time again, that if you continued to try to ruin my marriage, I'd never speak to you again. You didn't listen though, so now I want you to leave this town, and leave me and my husband alone. Are we clear?" Charlie said in a serious voice, crossing her arms over her chest.

Karen saw in her daughter's yes that she meant every word. "Charlotte-"

"Do me a favor and take Ben with you," Charlie called over her shoulder before walking away.

Ben and Charlie had been dating since she was a freshman and he was a sophomore. He was nice enough, and treated her right, but that spark just wasn't _there. _It wasn't like with Damon. She didn't even know why she stayed with him for so long let along say yes to his marriage proposal.

They had been engaged for three weeks before Charlie came to her senses. Surprisingly, Karen was supportive of the engagement, as were her friends. But Charlie realized one day that she didn't want to be Missus Ben Scott. That's when she ended the engagement- and her relationship- with Ben, and she probably broke her mum's heart more than she broke Ben's.

"You look beautiful tonight, Charlie. I didn't get a chance to tell you that."

Charlie groaned at his voice. "Please, just leave me alone."

Ben smirked slightly at her. He was handsome, with short brown hair and brown eyes. He was tall too, though not as tall as Damon. "I missed you, Char. You broke my heart when you broke our engagement," he told her.

"I'm sorry for that," Charlie told him honestly. "But I'm happier than I've ever been now. I don't regret breaking our engagement, because then I wouldn't be with Damon."

The determination in Ben's eyes didn't fade at those words. "I came here to win you back, Charlie."

"You can't win me back, Ben. I'm sorry, but I'm Damon's. I always will be," Charlie told him.

Ben wasn't fazed. "I'm going to get you back, husband or not." Ben gripped Charlie's arm tightly, and she frowned.

"Let me go, Ben," she told him, tugging at his arm.

His grip tightened, and Ben pulled her closer. "I'm going to convince you that you made a mistake, Charlie," he whispered roughly.

Charlie's eyes looked around for somebody to help her, but they were in a secluded part of the room. "Let me _go, _Ben," she insisted, his grip becoming painful.

"Let her go."

Charlie looked up to see Stefan, and relief flooded through her. Ben glared at him, but released Charlie's arm. "Who the hell are you?" he snapped.

"Her brother-in-law, and if you hurt Charlie again, I won't be nearly as nice the second time," Stefan said in a threatening tone. "You're just lucky that Damon wasn't here to see you touching his wife."

Ben glared at Stefan one more time before walking away. Charlie rubbed the finger-shaped bruises on her arm, before looking up at her brother-in-law. "Thank you." She smiled up at him.

"No problem." Stefan shrugged.

"Where's Damon?" she asked.

"Cooling off outside." Without another word, Charlie went to her husband.

She found him standing outside looking up at the night sky. She walked up to his side and neither said anything. Damon was hurt, jealous, and angry that Charlie hadn't told him about her engagement, and she knew that.

"Do you remember our honeymoon?" she blurted out suddenly.

A light smirk graced his lips. "How could I forget?"

"We were in Maui for a week, and we never left our hotel room." Charlie smirked slightly.

"Not true- we had hot beach sex," Damon corrected her.

Charlie laughed slightly. "Yes, hot beach sex was amazing. The only bad part was the sand." She groaned at the thought of how long it took to rid her body of sand.

"Why did you bring up our honeymoon?" Damon asked, turning his gaze from the moon to his wife.

"Because I thought that it might get you into a better mood, thinking about all our great honeymoon sex." Charlie smirked, and Damon chuckled.

"I'm not mad at you, Char, I'm not. I just want skin that guy alive, is all," Damon said casually. Charlie fixed him with a glare.

"Don't kill Ben, Damon. Just because we were engaged for a few weeks doesn't mean he deserves to die," Charlie argued.

"I beg to differ," Damon said darkly, and her glare intensified.

"Okay, how about this? If you kill Ben, we're not having sex for a very long time, and you're going to be kicked out of bed until further notice," Charlie threatened.

"Why do you care if Ben dies or not?" Damon shot at her, his eyes blazing with anger.

"Because we were friends, Damon. And just because you're jealous doesn't give you the right to kill him," Charlie argued.

He scoffed. "I'm not jealous, I just don't like the way he looks at you."

She rolled her eyes. "Don't kill him, okay? I won't forgive you if you do," she told him honestly before walking away.

Damon groaned to himself. He wanted to kill Ben so much, just because of how obvious it was that he wanted _his _Charlie back. But then he would risk his marriage, and he wasn't going to lose Charlie.

Damon walked back into the party, set on finding his wife, apologizing for his rather impulsive thoughts of killing Ben, and then taking her home. If he was lucky, he could still get that reward that Charlie had promised him earlier that night. But Damon wasn't going to push his luck.

He pushed through the crowd of people and scanned for Charlie. At first couldn't see her, but then his eyes locked on a kissing couple in a dark corner, and he froze. It was Ben and Charlie.

He felt so betrayed and heartbroken, that one second Damon thought that Charlie was kissing Ben back. But then he saw his wife struggling under Ben's grip, and he relaxed. Then he fired up again, at the thought of Ben kissing his wife.

Not even two seconds later, Damon ripped Charlie out of Ben's grip. She gasped out and rubbed her bruising arms. Damon's gaze never left Ben. At first, he stared defiantly back, but then he began to grow nervous under Damon's furious stare.

"Damon, don't!" Charlie exclaimed. But it was too late.

Before she could stop him, or he could come to his senses, Damon snapped Ben's neck. Thankfully, they weren't being watched, and nobody noticed when Ben's dead body fell to the floor.

Damon glared down at the body, before turning to Charlie. Her eyes were wide with surprise, but anger filled them. Damon started to regret his actions, as he looked back at his wife.

Where did this leave them?

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **thank you to: Stefanie, Samantha meyers, aerocrombielovr16, SomebodyWhoCares, vdemily, KimmyWSmith, and Be My Baby for reviewing!

Reviews equal updates!

~Abby :)


	19. you never really can fix a heart

Chapter eighteen

"_You never really can fix a heart,"- Fix a Heart by Demi Lovato _

Charlie and Damon walked into the boarding house together silently. Neither had said a word since Damon had killed Ben. Charlie's ex's body was currently in Damon's trunk. He wanted to dump it down the ravine or into the falls, but all Charlie could think about was Ben's family.

He had a little sister, Emma, who was thirteen. She looked up to Charlie as a big sister when she and Ben where dating. Ben's father had acted as a father figure to Charlie, since James lived in London and they didn't get to see each other very often. His mother was the sweetest woman Charlie had ever met. Wasn't losing Ben enough pain to cause them? Did they really have to spend the rest of their lives wondering what had happened to him?

"He had a family, Damon," Charlie said suddenly, turning around to face him. "A really sweet family that was like _my _family when we were dating."

"He was practically raping you, Charlie!" Damon argued. "What was I supposed to do? Just let it happen?"

"He kissed me Damon, that's all!" she exclaimed, her eyes narrowed.

"Really? What about those bruises on your arms? Those look bad," he said in a dark, sarcastic voice.

"You didn't have to kill him. There were other to handle the situation besides snapping his neck," Charlie argued.

"Not for me, Charlie." Damon was gritting his teeth in anger, and Charlie was glaring at him, anger in her hazel eyes.

"Maybe if you actually thought before you did something, killing wouldn't always be the answer for you," Charlie retorted.

"Well, maybe if I thought before I proposed to you, we wouldn't be in this mess- oh, excuse me, I mean marriage," Damon snapped.

Charlie looked as if Damon had just punched her, and he immediately regretted his words. "Charlie-" he sighed, walking towards her.

Charlie slapped him across the face, hard. Damon's face ached, and he was sure that there was a very red imprint of her hand on his cheek. He caught a glance of Charlie's tear-filled hazel eyes, before she ran up the stairs. He heard a door slam, and then a sob escape Charlie's throat.

Damon closed his eyes. Listening to his wife cry and knowing that he caused the tears hurt more than her slap had. He hated himself for saying that. Why would he say that? Their marriage wasn't a mess, it was actually pretty good. The only rough spot in their marriage was the fact that Damon clearly wanted to change Charlie into a vampire, and she wasn't so sure about it. He loved her so, so much, and he didn't regret marrying her for a second.

Sometimes, Charlie wished that Damon would follow her when she ran away. Even when she was clearly angry and hurt, she still wanted him to hold her while she cried because of the cruel words he'd said. She forced herself to stop crying, and wiped her tears away. Crying never fixed anything.

Charlie changed out of her dress and into her pajamas. She forced down her pills, and then went to get the book she was currently reading. Reading usually managed to distract her from her thoughts, and Damon's words were still hurting her. He had basically told her that he regretted marrying her. Even though she was pissed at him for killing Ben, she didn't regret marrying him.

"Charlie?"

She froze at the voice, and didn't say anything back. She heard Damon sigh from the other side of the door. "I'm so sorry, okay? I didn't mean it."

Charlie sat down on the bed and closed her eyes. Did he though? Was Damon's outburst just words spouted in anger, meant to hurt her and succeeding? Or were they something deeper, an actual feeling of his that he had pushed down deep? Damon Salvatore wasn't the marrying type. He was a vampire, an "eternal stud," as he had referred to himself in the past. He wasn't one to be tied down to a little human woman with a defective heart.

"I didn't Charlie, really. I would _never _regret marrying you. I love you, so much," Damon insisted through the door.

If only it were so easy to believe his words, to forgive him. Now that that tiny seed was planted in her head, Charlie was sure that Damon regretted marrying her. It broke her heart.

Charlie curled up in bed, forgetting all about her book. Damon sighed, knowing that Charlie wasn't going to forgive him for his harsh, untrue words. Not tonight.

She heard him walk away, and Charlie bit her lip. Again, despite her anger and hurt and pain, a part of Charlie still wanted Damon to come into their room and hold her. She was so used to being comforted by Damon, that it was her instinct to go running into his arms whenever she was hurt.

Charlie didn't sleep very well that night. She never slept very well when Damon wasn't next to her. She only really felt safe when he was next to her, because he had drilled into her head he would always protect her. Because of that, Charlie didn't feel very safe when Damon wasn't with her.

Still, she didn't invite him back in bed with her. Charlie was still angry over Ben's death, and hurt over his cruel words to her. It was going to take a lot more than Charlie's strange sleep behavior to force her to forgive him.

The next morning, Charlie woke up from a restless sleep. She frowned when she saw that Damon wasn't next to her, but then she remembered their fight. Most of Charlie's anger was gone, but she was still a little angry for Ben's family's sake. Damon was just protecting her, though. It had just started out as a kiss, but what would've happened if Damon hadn't shown up?

The hurt and pain hadn't left Charlie, though. She still didn't forgive him for basically saying that he wished he hadn't met her. She wasn't ready to forgive him for that yet. Charlie needed more time.

As Charlie sat up and stretched, she noticed about ten vases of poppies in the bedroom- her favorite flower. They were all fresh, and a brilliant shade of dark orange, almost red. She couldn't help but smile. The poppies had softened her up a bit.

She took a shower and then changed into a white dress and a jean jacket. She wanted to distract herself from her fight with Damon, and give herself time to forgive him. She walked out of her room and downstairs. Damon wasn't there, but Stefan was. She smiled at her brother-in-law, though it was a little forced. She wasn't in a mood to smile.

"Did you and Damon fight last night?" Stefan asked, causing Charlie to stop walking towards the door.

"I suppose that we're still fighting." Charlie sighed. "How did you know?"

"Well, Damon's sleeping in one of the guest bedrooms. But around five this morning, he recruited me to help him put poppies in your room. What did he do?" Stefan asked.

She bit her lip. "Well, first he killed Ben- but I'm not mad about that anymore. He was just protecting me. Ben attacked me, sort of. He kissed me, and was hurting me." Charlie pushed up her sleeves to reveal the blue and purple bruises on her arms.

"But what I'm mad about right now- or more like really hurt- is that he basically told me that he regretted our marriage." She gulped slightly- just thinking about his cruel words broke her heart.

Stefan sighed. "I know that he didn't mean it, Charlie," he assured her. He found himself rooting for Damon and Charlie. Stefan saw how much his brother loved her, and he wanted him to be happy. He wanted Damon to have Charlie.

"But what if he did?" Charlie whispered so quietly that only a vampire would be able to hear her.

"He loves you, Charlie. I swear he does. When Damon gets angry and upset, he does and says stupid things. Did he apologize after?"

Charlie nodded. "Right after."

"Damon doesn't apologize, and he wouldn't of if he did mean what he said. All I'm saying is that you didn't let your mom break you two apart, so it'd be a shame if you let some words that Damon didn't mean do it." Stefan smiled sympathetically at her when he finished.

It touched Charlie, that Stefan cared enough about her and Damon's marriage to try to defend it. She smiled back at him. "I'll keep that in mind," she told him before leaving.

Charlie went to the Grill and sat down at a booth by herself. She ordered a cup of coffee and tried to sort through her feelings and thoughts. It was the idea that Damon might've meant his words that kept Charlie from forgiving him. She loved him, so much, and it broke her heart that he might not want to be married to her.

"Charlotte?"

Charlie sighed and looked up at her mother. She wasn't in the mood for her. Karen would probably throw a party if she and Damon separated. "Yes mum?"

"I just wanted to say goodbye. I'm going home. I couldn't find Ben anywhere, though." Karen frowned as she sat down across the booth from her daughter.

_Don't worry about him, he's just rotting away in the trunk of my husband's car, _Charlie thought bitterly. "Oh, well, goodbye then."

Karen sighed. "I'm not going to apologize for bringing Ben here, Charlotte. You can't blame a mother for wanting the best for her daughter, and Ben would be the best for you." Karen thought about adding that Charlie's husband was a blood sucking, murderous vampire, but thought against it. It would probably cause Charlie's heart to give out.

"Mum, don't you think that if Ben was the best for me, I'd be with him?" she countered.

Karen had no response for that, and instead looked around for her son-in-law. "Where's Damon?" she asked bitterly.

Charlie sighed. She could already hear her mother's 'I told you so.' "He's at home. We… we sort of had a fight."

Karen tried to hold in her joy as best as she could, but she couldn't help but to grin at the news. "Oh? What about?"

Charlie sighed. "You'd just rub it in my face, mother," she mumbled.

"No, I won't, I promise. What are you two fighting about?" Karen pushed.

"I'm mad at him because he told me that he wished that he never married me!" Charlie exclaimed, annoyed at her mother's pushiness.

"Oh, did he now?" Karen couldn't help but think _I warned you, Charlotte. I warned you that your marriage would never work._

"Well, not those exact words, and he was angry when he said them. He yelled them at me in the heat of the moment," Charlie added almost defensively.

"I told you, Charlotte. Men like Damon aren't made for marriage. They break hearts, and yours has had enough done to it without him," Karen said, before pulling out her phone. "Let me just call my lawyer…"

Charlie frowned. "What for?"

"For the divorce papers, of course!" Karen looked at her as if it was obvious.

"Mum, Damon and I aren't getting divorced," Charlie said, frowning. "It was one fight, married couples fight. I still love him, and he still loves me. It was a mistake that he said that and he regrets it." As Charlie said the words, she realized how true they were. At that moment, she forgave her husband.

"Goodbye mum, I have to go see my husband," Charlie said briskly, before standing up and walking away.

Damon was waiting for Charlie when she walked into the boarding house. He looked like he had gotten about as much sleep as she had. "Charlie, I am so sorry, okay? I didn't mean it, not for a second. I'm a jackass," Damon said, walking up to her.

She smiled slightly. "Yes, you are. But you're not nearly as bad as you used to be," she told him.

"Did you see the flowers?" Damon asked her, taking the fact that she was talking to him as a good sign. Damon had gone out at four in the morning to get those poppies for her. He had wanted Charlie to wake up and see them.

"All twenty dozen? How could I miss them?" she teased slightly, though was touched by them.

Damon smirked. "Well, I know that you _really _like poppies…"

Charlie's smile went away, and she looked up at him seriously. "You didn't mean it?" she asked him.

"Charlie, proposing to you was the best thing I've ever done, and the night you said yes was the happiest moment of my life. I could never regret any of that," he told her seriously.

Charlie sighed, before melting into his arms. It felt nice, hugging him after their big fight. "I forgive you," she told him honestly.

Damon smiled, and kissed his wife's head. "I love you, Char," he murmured to her.

Charlie mumbled something that sounded like "I love you too." but seconds later, she fell asleep in her husband's arms.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **I promise some Charlie/Damon (Darlie?) fluff next chapter. They need it, after all this drama.

Thank you to: jacquline, Be My Baby, KimmyWSmith, SomebodyWhoCares, Samantha meyers, , and aerocrombielovr16 for reviewing!

Review!

~Abby ;)


	20. i would've know what i was living for

Chapter nineteen

"_I would've known what I was living for,"- Turning Page by Sleeping At Last_

After compromising with Charlie on what to do with Ben's body, Damon managed to make it look like he got into a car crash, so that his body was discovered but nobody could trace it back to Damon. A few days following the discovery of Ben's body, Charlie got a phone call from Ben's mother telling her about his death and inviting her to the funeral.

"I can't do it," Charlie said, lying across their bed. "I can't go to his funeral and look his family in the eyes knowing that I'm the reason he's dead."

"Charlie, I killed him, you didn't." Damon sighed, leaning against the doorframe.

"Yes, but you killed him because he was kissing me," she explained, her hazel eyes shut.

"He was thinking about doing more than just kissing you, Charlie," Damon muttered darkly.

She sighed, guilt eating away at her. She couldn't help but not feel guilty that her husband had killed Ben for her. It was just who Charlie was. "Maybe so, but I still can't face his family," she mumbled.

"Fine, we can send flowers or something," Damon told her before frowning down at his wife. "You're not still mad at me, are you Char?" he asked her quietly.

She shook her head, brown curls flying. "No, I forgive you Damon- for everything," she told him. Charlie was just stressed out. She had a dead ex-fiancé, an overbearing mother, a heart disease, and a group of vampires, werewolves, and hunters that wanted her husband and brother-in-law dead all weighing down on her shoulders. She needed relaxation.

"I'm going to surprise you," Damon blurted out suddenly, a mischievous smirk on his lips.

Charlie sat up and raised an eyebrow. "With what?" she asked, bemused and curious at the same time.

"It wouldn't be a surprise if I told you, now would it?" Damon countered before leaving the room. Charlie just sighed before lying back on the bed. She closed her eyes, apprehensive and excited for Damon's surprise. She didn't know when he'd spring it on her, but she was sure that it was going to be one hell of a surprise.

* * *

><p>"Get up."<p>

Charlie groaned and aimed a kick at her husband. "What the hell, Damon?" she said sleepily, putting a pillow over her head.

Damon ripped the blanket off of his half asleep wife and she gasped as the cold air jolted her awake. "I hate you so bloody much," she muttered, sitting up.

Charlie pushed her messy hair out of her face and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She looked at the alarm clock on the nightstand and aimed a glare at her husband. "Are you serious, Damon? It's four in the bloody morning! You wake me up again and I'm divorcing you," she threatened, before lying back down.

"Well, if you divorce me, you won't be able to get your surprise," Damon said with a smirk.

Charlie sat up again and raised an eyebrow. "It better be an amazing surprise if you're waking me up at four in the morning for it," she grumbled before getting out of bed.

"I already have you packed, just get ready and meet me in the car," he instructed her.

Charlie dressed in sweatpants and a sweatshirt and met Damon in his Camaro. She fell asleep during the car ride, and when Damon woke her up it was almost two hours later. She pulled away from his shoulder and stretched. "Where are we?" she asked after yawning.

"Airport. I gotta say, I got some really weird looks carrying you through security in my arms," Damon told her with a slight smirk.

"Where are we going?" Charlie asked, settling her head against Damon's shoulder again.

"Think of it as a second honeymoon," Damon said vaguely.

She frowned at his obvious refusal to tell her exactly where they were going. "Maui again?" she asked.

He shook his head. "I'll give you a hint; we're leaving the country."

"Europe?" she guessed.

Damon shook his head. "Nope."

She sighed in frustration. "Can't you just tell me?" she asked, glowering at him.

Damon sighed and kissed the side of her head. "Only because I feel like being nice," he told her, just as the flight attendant called their flight.

Damon stood up and grabbed their carryon bags. Charlie frowned and stood up after him. "Where are we going?" she repeated, following Damon.

"The Bahamas Char," Damon told her, throwing an arm around her shoulders. "We're going to the Bahamas."

* * *

><p>"I love you so bloody much. Have I ever told you that?" Charlie told her husband as they walked towards the small beach house Damon had rented out for their "second honeymoon."<p>

"I get it now- the key to your love is to take you on expensive locations. I'll make a note of that," Damon said teasingly, carrying all of their bags.

It was a clear night at the Bahamas, and the air was slightly breezy and warm. When they came to the front door, Damon dropped their bags and picked Charlie up bridal style in one fluid motion. She giggled and swung an arm around his neck.

"Really?" she asked as Damon walked into the house with his wife in his arms.

"It's tradition to carry the bride over the threshold, Char. Duh." Damon teasingly rolled his eyes at his wife.

"Are you going to carry me over every threshold we cross?" Charlie asked, wrapping her arms around her husband's neck. Damon ignored the bags at the front door and carried Charlie towards the bedroom.

"If I find it necessary to, then yeah." Damon smirked before dropping Charlie down onto the bed.

"You only like carrying me because you know what happens next." Charlie rolled her eyes, but grabbed Damon by his shirt and yanked him down towards her. Their lips met, and she ripped Damon's shirt off, sending buttons flying, before flipping them over and straddling his waist.

Damon smirked against his wife's lips. He loved it when she got dominant.

* * *

><p>"Make the sun go away."<p>

Charlie groaned and buried her face into Damon's neck, as the bright sun peeked out from behind the curtains and shone in her eyes. He chuckled and wrapped an arm around his wife's naked waist.

"Time to get up, Char," he told her, Charlie's dark, messy curls falling into his face.

"No, can't we stay in bed all day?" she offered a sleepy yet seductive smile and wrapped her legs around his waist.

"Fine by me." Damon shrugged and then smirked and flipped them over. Charlie got to be dominant last night- it was his turn now.

"Wait, no," Charlie mumbled and pulled away. "We never left the bedroom during our last honeymoon. I want to actually see the Bahamas."

Damon groaned. "After a quickie, and then I promise that we can go to the beach." Damon suddenly smirked. "Besides, you should see the bikinis I packed for you."

Charlie rolled her eyes; she could only imagine the skimpy swim suits that Damon had bought for her. She bet that they were more revealing than some of the lingerie she owned. "How about we skip the quickie, and then we can have sex on the beach again," she offered. Despite getting sand everywhere, beach sex was hot.

"Deal," Damon said, before kissing Charlie's shoulder and releasing her. He got out of bed and Charlie followed. She pulled on his shirt from last night only to realize that it didn't button up. Charlie smirked to herself and left the ruined shirt on.

Damon groaned when he saw his wife walk into the kitchen with the shirt on, hiding absolutely nothing. She was such a tease and he loved it. "Can we eat breakfast before we have hot beach sex? I'm starving," Charlie said, sitting down at the small table in the kitchen.

Damon, wearing just boxers, walked to the fridge and pulled out the ingredients to make Charlie pancakes, they were her favorite. He had made sure that there would be food already at the house before they arrived.

After Charlie was stuffed with chocolate chip pancakes, she went back into the bedroom and changed into one of the bikinis Damon had picked out for her. She sighed when she saw them. She had been right when she thought that they would be skimpy and revealing- she had underwear that covered more than some of the bikinis Damon had packed for her.

In fact, Damon's packing skills were questionable. Most of the things that he had packed for his wife were lingerie. She rolled her eyes and laughed at her husband. She knew what he had in mind for them to do on their second honeymoon.

Charlie picked out the least skimpy out of all of the swim suits- a pink and white polka-dotted one- and slipped into it. She pulled on a pair of jean shorts- so short they could almost be considered underwear- and walked back out to meet her husband. Damon was in swim trunks, and openly checked out Charlie in the revealing clothes.

"You look nice," he told her, slipping an arm around her waist.

"You're never allowed to pack for me again. Ever," Charlie told him, as they started walking toward the beach that was basically their backyard.

"What? You look hot," Damon told her, and she rolled her hazel eyes.

Most of the things you packed for me were lingerie, and the others were short, skimpy, and slutty. I don't think that I have a decent thing to wear in public," Charlie told him, the warm, slightly humid breeze blowing her long locks into her face.

"Well, when I imagined this vacation, you weren't in clothes." Damon smirked down at her.

Charlie playfully pushed him away and laughed. She'd have to go shopping for decent clothes later. Despite what Damon had constantly hinted at, she didn't plan to spend their entire vacation naked with him. They'd fit some fun vacation-y things in between all the sex that they were bound to have.

Damon playfully narrowed his eyes at his wife. Her eyes widened, and she could practically read his thoughts. "Damon, don't you dare!" she yelled, before running away from him.

Damon chased after his wife and easily caught her. He grabbed her and his arms wrapped around her waist. She was giggling like crazy, and he kissed her neck before carrying her to the ocean.

"In you go, Charlie," Damon said, before throwing her into the water. Charlie went into the warm water, laughing the entire way. When she came back to the surface, she glared teasingly at her husband, who was laughing.

"You're so going to get it!" she yelled at him, running out of the water, soaking wet.

"Ooh, I'm shaking," Damon said sarcastically as Charlie ran at him. He easily caught her around the waist and pulled her down to the sand. Their lips met as the sand coated Charlie's wet skin.

Charlie's bare legs wrapped around Damon's waist and her arms wrapped around his neck. He toyed with the string tying her bikini top to her.

"I believe that you owe me beach sex, Missus Salvatore," he said huskily, before kissing her roughly again. Charlie smirked into the kiss, never feeling as blissful as she did with Damon on the beach.

Their second honeymoon was exactly what they both needed.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **sexy and romantic fluff- exactly what I had promised. Expect some more before we get back to all of the drama.

Thank you to: SomebodyWhoCares, Marina164509, jacquline, , Be My Baby, Kimmy W. Smith, Antiki, and Tomboy96 for reviewing!

Review!

~Abby ;)


	21. this love will take my everything

Chapter twenty

"_This love will take my everything,"- Love Song Requiem by Trading Yesterday_

Charlie was completely blissful.

It was like nothing else existed outside of the Bahamas and Damon. There were no meddling mothers, heart diseases, and groups of supernatural beings trying to kill her husband and brother-in-law. She never wanted to leave.

"Why are you making a giant pile of sand?" Damon asked her on their third day at the Bahamas. Charlie was sitting cross legged on the sand while Damon watched her from a chair.

She frowned at him, a bucket in her hands. "I'm making a sand castle, Damon," she told him.

"Oh, it's really nice Charlie," Damon said in a tone that implied that her castle sucked.

Charlie glared at him. "It's not finished yet, I still have to make it castle-y," she said defensively.

"Good luck with that, Char," he told his wife, sunglasses on.

"It's not as easy as it looks." She pouted down at her pathetic sand castle.

"Really? Because that seven year old has a pretty awesome looking one." Damon pointed to a little boy a few couple hundred yards away from them, a big sand castle in front of him.

"Shut up Damon!" Charlie threw her bucket at her husband and it hit him square in the chest.

Damon raised an eyebrow at her. "I think that somebody wants to get thrown into the ocean again," he said, standing up.

"No!" she exclaimed, getting up and running away from him. There were other people on the beach so Damon couldn't cheat and use his vampire speed, but he still caught Charlie pretty easily.

He grabbed his wife by the waist and pulled her down to the hot sand with him. Charlie was giggling as Damon pinned her beneath him and smothered her lips with his. "We can't have hot beach sex again love, there are young children on the beach and I bet that their mothers wouldn't appreciate that," Charlie mumbled against his lips after a few minutes.

"Fine, back to the beach house." Damon smirked and pulled Charlie up to the ground with him.

"Carry me?" she asked him, batting her eyelashes.

Damon sighed over-exaggeratedly before bending down so that she could get on his back. "Hop on," he told her.

Charlie climbed onto her husband's back and locked her arms around his neck. Damon held onto her knees before walking back to their rented out beach house. As soon as they were alone, Charlie kissed Damon. her mouth hot on his, and he let out a low growl, before swinging her off of his back and pinning her against the ground in one fluid motion.

"We can't even make it inside the house like decent people who aren't sex crazy?" Charlie said, as Damon kissed her neck and pulled off her tank top at the same time.

"We're on our honeymoon Char- we're allowed to be sex crazy," he told her, before kissing her to stop her from talking again.

A few hours later, Charlie got out of their bed, careful not to wake a sleeping Damon. They had made it inside of the house eventually, and after a few rounds on the couch, kitchen table, and various tables, they even made it to their bed.

Charlie took a quick shower before changing into a pair of Damon's boxer shorts and a tank top- She still had to go shopping for decent clothes to wear. She walked through the living room, side-stepping several tables that they had broken, and into the kitchen. The sun had set, and the moon was bright, silvery, and full over the ocean. It really was a beautiful sight.

Charlie made herself a sandwich and walked out onto the patio to eat it. She was a terrible cook- only capable of making cereal and sandwiches. That was why Damon made her meals for her.

Charlie ate her dinner in silence, propping her bare legs up onto a table. She never wanted to leave the Bahamas, the calm, the peace. She didn't want to leave how stress-free everything was there, and how sex with Damon had went from amazing to out of this world. She didn't want to return to the real world.

Suddenly, Charlie heard a scream that caused her to jump and drop her plate. The ceramic plate broke but she didn't pay any attention to it. She heard another scream- a blood-curdling, terror-filled scream. She knew better than to go running after the scream- horror movies and Damon had taught her better- but Charlie's caring nature won over common sense, and she got up and ran towards the screams.

Picking up a branch to use as a weapon, Charlie walked down the beach towards a deserted cove. With only the moon's glow to use as light, Charlie didn't see what seemed to be a couple at first, but noticed them when the moon's light caught the woman's bright, platinum blonde hair.

When Charlie first saw them, she assumed that they were just a young couple. The woman was kissing the man's neck, holding him tightly in her vice-like grip. But then she noticed that the man was thrashing, struggling to get away. Charlie looked again, and saw that the woman was biting his neck, blood dripping from her mouth onto the sand.

She was a vampire.

"Bloody hell," Charlie whispered, taking a step back. She didn't know what to do, run back to Damon maybe? She wanted to help the man that was currently being drained of life, but the vampire could and would kill her.

The woman's head suddenly snapped around and glared at Charlie. She dropped the man and turned to face her. Blood covered her face, fangs protruded from her mouth, her eyes were dark red, and veins were darkened under her eyes. Charlie took a step back and turned around to run and yell for Damon, when the blonde caught her by the throat.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" she drawled, leaning into Charlie's neck. Suddenly, she caught a scent off of the human and paused.

"Damon?" she whispered, before she was suddenly tackled to the ground.

Charlie gasped for air, rubbing the forming bruises on her neck. She looked down on the ground to see her growling husband pinning the blonde to the sand. "Run, Charlie," he ordered her.

"Damon, it's me!" the blonde gasped out, and Damon relaxed his grip on her neck.

He frowned down at the woman he had pinned to the ground, before recognition dawned in his eyes. A slow grin formed on his lips, and the blonde returned it. "Rachel?"

Then he pulled the blonde up and hugged her.

* * *

><p>"<em>Hello?"<em>

"I hate her Elena, I bloody hate her!" Charlie growled, pacing her bedroom. She didn't bother to keep her voice low, since the two vampires were currently out at a bar. Charlie was supposed to meet Rachel and her husband there, but she needed to vent to Elena first.

"_Hate who? Aren't you on your second honeymoon with Damon right now?" _Elena asked, bemused.

"I am, but it was interrupted by _Rachel." _Charlie said her name like a curse, and her lip curled.

"_Who's Rachel?" _Elena asked curiously.

"An evil bitch from hell, out to steal my husband." Charlie glared at the wall, as if it was responsible for Rachel's man-stealing ways.

Rachel Costa was an acquaintance of Damon's. They were even friends, back in the day. They had partied together before, and even though they didn't say so, it was obvious to Charlie that they had slept together- probably more than once. And by the way Rachel looked at Charlie like she was the bane of her existence Charlie thought that she was still into Damon.

"_You're married?" Rachel didn't bother to hide her shock at the news. She eyed the rings on Charlie and Damon's fingers. _

_Rachel had smelled Damon on Charlie, but she just figured that the small woman was just one of Damon's toys. She never imagined that Damon- wild, arrogant, man whore Damon- would ever get married, especially to a _human.

_Damon nodded and wrapped his arm protectively around Charlie's shoulders. "Four months," he said proudly, like those four months were the best of his existence. They had been._

"_Oh, well congrats," Rachel said with a fake smile. Charlie returned it, wrapping an arm around Damon's bare waist. Despite being human, Charlie was making it very clear to Rachel that Damon was hers._

"_It was nice seeing you again, Rach. We'll catch up later," Damon said, before pulling Charlie back to the beach house. Charlie looked back to see Rachel throwing the unconscious human man over her shoulder, before she disappeared altogether._

"_Don't go running off like that again, Charlie," Damon told her seriously. "You're lucky that it was Rachel and that she smelled me on you. Any other vampire would've torn your throat out." He his grip on her shoulders tightened at that thought._

"_Yeah, I'm so lucky," Charlie muttered. She already hated Rachel._

"I swear, it's been two days since we ran into her, and Damon and I hadn't spent a moment alone since," Charlie ranted.

"_Maybe she just wants to catch up with Damon," _Elena offered.

"Fine, but don't do it on my second honeymoon. Besides, it's not just that. I swear, she's always making these little jibes at me. _'Oh Damon, it must be hard work, keeping your weak little human wife safe when she's running around interrupting Vampires' meals.'" _Charlie mocked Rachel's voice and laugh, anger surging up inside of her.

"_Okay, well that's bitchy," _Elena said.

"She's getting on my last nerves, Elena. I'm going to stake her soon. I can live with the jabs about being a weak human, but it's the fact that she's always eye humping my husband that's pissing me off." Charlie threw a pillow at the door in anger.

"_Eye humping?" _

"He's not eye humping her back, of course- Damon would already be dead if that were the case. In fact, he's totally oblivious to her eye humping." Charlie sighed.

"_Damon loves you, Charlie. Some random vampire from his past isn't going to change that," _Elena soothed her.

"You're right, I won't go off committing a vampire murder," Charlie said, her temper cooling down.

Charlie hung up with Elena, then walked out of the beach house and drove to the small bar a few minutes away. She was jealous, but she trusted Damon not to cheat on her. He loved her, she was sure of that.

Charlie parked her car and then walked into the bar. Her eyes scanned the bar for Damon and Rachel, when she suddenly froze. Charlie eyes were trained on the bar, and she watched as Rachel leaned into Damon, her lips inches from his.

Charlie never got to see if Damon went to kiss Rachel or if he would've pushed her away, because that was when she marched over to Rachel and punched her square in the jaw.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **thank you to: Stefanie, Be My Baby, and SomebodyWhoCares for reviewing!

Review!

~Abby :)


	22. it started with a whisper

Chapter twenty one

"_It started with a whisper,"- Everybody Talks by Neon Trees_

"Don't you _dare _try to kiss my husband, you little bitch," Charlie growled at the Vampire who was on the ground. Damon was frozen in shock, but Charlie didn't even glance at her husband.

Charlie's hand ached in pain, but she didn't have time to properly react to her broken hand, because Rachel jumped up, growled at her, and then lunged for her throat. Damon was there, though. Before Rachel's hands could get around Charlie's throat, Damon broke a leg off of a chair and shoved it into her heart.

There were shouts and screams as Rachel fell to the ground, dying. Damon immediately went to compel every person in the bar and Charlie was left to watch the vampire turn gray and die. She couldn't offer up any sympathy or remorse for the vampire. The only thing she regretted was that she didn't get to stake the home wrecker herself.

"How's your hand?" Damon asked quietly ten minutes later, as they drove to a deep cove to drop Rachel's body in.

"Fine," Charlie said shortly, looking out the window. She was in serious pain and her hand was broken, but she was angry at Damon- more like jealous and confused. Was he going to kiss Rachel back? Or was he going to push her away? Charlie would never know.

Damon sighed and pulled to the side of the road. He bit his wrist and offered the blood to Charlie. "Drink," he ordered.

She shook her head childishly and Damon narrowed his eyes in agitation. "Can you not be stubborn once in your god damn life and just drink my blood?" he growled.

"Were you going to kiss her?" Charlie blurted out as the wound on Damon's wrist healed.

"What? of course not," Damon said like he couldn't even believe she was asking.

"You sure? Because old Damon would've. Hell, old Damon would've slept with her by now," Charlie said, ignoring her aching hand.

"Do you really think that I would cheat on you, Charlie?" Damon asked her, slightly hurt. They both knew his past, but Damon wouldn't do that to Charlie.

"Yes? No? I don't know," she sighed and leaned against the seat. "I just feel like everything and everyone is trying to break us up, like the entire universe is against us."

"I wouldn't have kissed her back, Charlie," Damon insisted, not liking what she had said. "Believe me; I wouldn't do that to you."

Charlie sighed and finally looked at her husband. They had been through too much to let some blonde home wrecker get in between them. Did it really matter if the world didn't want them together? No, not to Charlie.

"Give me your blood," she demanded, and Damon sighed in relief before biting his wrist and giving it to his wife.

After Charlie's hand healed, they continued their drive to get rid of Rachel's body. After driving for ten minutes, they stopped and then Damon grabbed Rachel's body and they started walking to the cove.

"When did you get that left hook?" Damon asked after a few silent minutes. Charlie smiled slightly.

"Believe it or not, I used to get in fights a lot," Charlie told him, grabbing his hand. Rachel's body was wrapped up in a blanket and thrown over Damon's shoulder.

"No way," Damon said, his eyes widening in disbelief. "You're too nice. You probably apologized right after you kicked a person's ass."

Charlie laughed. "I used to get in fights with cheerleaders," she told him. "I never regretted beating up those bitches."

Damon groaned. "I can't even tell you how much I regret missing that," he said and she laughed.

"Cheerleaders are dirty fighters, let me tell you that. I finally got sick of all of the hair pulling and learned how to throw a decent punch."

"Who knew my wife was such a badass?" Charlie smirked and squeezed Damon's hand.

They came to the cove and Damon tossed Rachel's body in without saying or doing anything. Then he turned to his wife and kissed her. "Let's get you home," he mumbled against her lips. "I want to hear more about these girl fights you got into."

Charlie laughed and kissed her husband back. Not even a blonde home wrecker was going to tear them apart.

* * *

><p>"No, I don't want to go," Charlie whined during their last morning at the Bahamas. She pouted in their bed, and Damon stopped his packing to chuckle at her expression.<p>

"We have to return to the real world some time, Charlie," he told her.

Charlie suddenly smirked mischievously and sat up. She made her way to the edge of the bed and grabbed Damon by the shirt and pulled his lips to hers. Damon knew that she was trying to prolong the time they would have to leave, but he still kissed her back.

Charlie pulled her husband onto the bed and crawled on top of him. His fingers played with the buttons of his shirt that she was wearing and his hand grazed her thigh. Damon flipped them over so that he was on top and kissed Charlie's jaw down to her neck.

"Bite me," she gasped out, her hands running through her husband's hair.

Damon pulled away, desire for both his wife's body and blood running through him. "You sure?" he asked her, his voice thick. He could already feel his fangs pressing into his bottom lip.

Charlie nodded and that was all Damon needed before he sank his fangs into her skin. She hissed in pain, but like he always did, Damon removed his fangs as soon as he broke the skin. Charlie's warm blood flooded into Damon's mouth, and Charlie moaned with pleasure.

After a few minutes of drinking her blood, Damon forced himself to pull away. He wiped his mouth and then fed Charlie some of his blood. When Damon went to get back to packing, Charlie grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him back to her.

"I'm not done with you yet," she smirked mischievously and kissed him passionately.

After a quickie, Charlie and Damon drove to the airport. Charlie didn't want to leave and neither did Damon. But he was right; they had to return to the real word sometime.

* * *

><p>"How was your vacation?"<p>

Charlie looked away from the bags she was unpacking to smile at Elena. "Almost completely relaxing," she said.

"How did things end up with Rachel?" she asked as Charlie dumped sand into the garbage can.

"Well, Rachel is currently in the ocean," Charlie informed her. Despite how compassionate Charlie was, she couldn't manage to feel remorse or sympathy for her.

"Did you kill her?" Elena asked, raising an eyebrow.

She shook her head, ringlets flying. "No, Damon did."

"I thought that they were friends," Elena said, bemused.

"Well, I walked in on Rachel trying to kiss Damon so I punched her. Then she tried to kill me, so Damon killed her," Charlie explained.

"You punched a _vampire?" _Elena asked brown eyes wide.

Charlie smirked at the teenager. "Despite having a heart disease, I'm pretty badass, Elena," she joked, making a pile of dirty clothes.

"So what happened here?" Charlie asked, running a hand over the bite mark Damon had made that morning.

"Nothing eventful." Elena shrugged. "I felt like somebody was watching me at my house last night," she admitted.

Charlie's eyebrows shot up. "Did you tell Stefan? It could be the vampires, werewolves, and hunters that want him and Damon dead," she said.

Elena nodded. "There wasn't anything or anyone there, but that doesn't mean anything."

Charlie sighed and sat down on her bed. "I don't like that there hasn't been any sign of them since the attack. I feel like they're just biding their time."

"They are." Elena joined Charlie on the bed. "The sooner this whole thing is done with, the sooner you and Damon can go back to New York."

"I don't think that I want to go back," Charlie admitted. "I wouldn't mind staying here, and it's good for Damon to be near his brother- they're finally patching things up."

"You're planning on staying here?" Elena asked, sounding excited.

Charlie nodded a small smile on her lips. "Mystic Falls is growing on me," she said simply. She still had to talk to Damon about staying at Mystic Falls permanently but he would move them to Mars if that was what Charlie wanted.

Charlie grabbed the basket of dirty clothes and walked down to the basement to do the laundry. She passed the living room to see the brothers talking and looking like they were having a decent conversation. She smiled to herself as she walked past the brothers- Damon was finally getting his brother back. Who was she to ruin that?

As Charlie passed the front door there was suddenly a knock at it. She put the basket to her hip and then went to answer the door. When she saw who was behind it, she sighed.

"Mum, I thought you left, like weeks ago?" Charlie was done with her mother, finished.

"Charlotte, there's something you need to know," Karen said in a particularly desperate voice. Charlie raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing you could say would change the way I feel about Damon," she said shortly. "Now if you'll excuse me-"

Karen caught the door before it slammed shut. "Charlotte, please just listen to me!"

"No, I don't think that I will," she said defiantly, making to shut the door again.

"Your husband is a vampire, Charlotte!" Karen exclaimed. "You're married to a monster!"

Charlie's eyes widened. How the hell did Karen know?

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Be My Baby, Samantha meyers, Booth-Bones4life, SomebodyWhoCares, and Boo13 for reviewing!

Reviews are inspiring!

~Abby :)


	23. maybe i'm your Mr Right

Chapter twenty two

"_Maybe I'm your Mr. Right,"- Mr. Right by A Rocket to the Moon_

"Excuse me?" Charlie asked, not believing her mother's words.

"Your husband is a vampire, Charlotte," Karen repeated.

Suddenly, Charlie burst out laughing. It was fake laughter, of course, but Karen didn't know that. "Good one, mum. Vampires aren't real," Charlie said, thankful for all the plays she did in high school that gave her decent acting skills.

"I'm serious, Charlotte. Damon Salvatore is a vampire," Karen insisted, frowning at her daughter's reaction.

"Sure he is mum. I think you need to lay off of the wine," she said, though her heart was beating a mile a minute.

"Charlotte, I'm being-" but Karen never got to finish her sentence, because Charlie slammed the door in her face.

"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit," Charlie started mumbling, as she dropped the basket of laundry she was carrying and ran to Stefan and Damon.

"Charlie, what's wrong?" Damon was suddenly in front of her and holding her face as she hyperventilated.

"She knows, Damon. My mum knows about you," Charlie blurted out.

Her husband's eyes widened. "Did you-?"

"Of course not! Oh my god, what are we going to do?" Charlie was hyperventilating again, and she felt like she was going to pass out.

"Okay, first you need to calm down," Damon said, rubbing calming circles on her cheeks with his thumbs.

Charlie closed her eyes and took deep breaths. When she was calmed down, she opened her eyes again. "How did she find out?" Charlie wondered out loud, pushing a curl out of her face.

"Maybe someone or told her. Or maybe…" Damon suddenly cursed, and Charlie's eyebrows furrowed.

"What?" she asked him.

"I wasn't exactly very cautious, the first few months I was at Kingston. Maybe she walked in on me feeding," Damon said.

"Then why did she wait so long to tell me?" Charlie asked.

"Because she was probably worried that your heart would fail. When I told you, you passed out," Damon pointed out.

"Well, what are we going to do?" she asked her husband, starting to pace.

"I think I should compel her," Damon said suddenly.

He looked to his wife, expecting her to argue, but Charlie nodded. "I think that it would be for the best. The last thing we need is for her to try to stake you," she said.

"And while I'm at it, I can compel her to move far, far away," Damon said with a slight smirk.

"Don't push your luck, love," Charlie told him, and he chuckled.

"I want to talk to her first, though," Charlie said suddenly. "I want to know how long she's known."

Damon nodded, and it was settled. Karen would be compelled to forget about vampires, but Charlie would get her answers first.

* * *

><p>"Hi mum," Charlie said, sitting down across the table from her. It was the next day and she was at the Grill.<p>

"Are you ready to listen to me, Charlotte? Damon is a vampire," Karen said shortly, crossing her arms over her chest.

Charlie sighed. "I know."

Karen's eyebrows shot up. "What?"

"I know that Damon is a vampire, mum. Do you really think that he would've married me if I was still in the dark?" Charlie asked, pushing her dark curls over her shoulder.

"You know that your husband is a monster and you still married him?" Karen asked, eyes wide in disbelief. Suddenly, they zeroed in on her neck and then narrowed in anger.

"Charlotte, what's on your neck?" she asked in a low voice.

"Mum, let's not-" she started to say but was cut off.

"_Charlotte Marie, what is on your neck?"_

Charlie sighed but pushed her hair away from her neck defiantly. "It's a bite mark, mum," she said, her head high.

Karen's eyes widened to the size of plates. Then they narrowed. "Excuse me? I must've heard you wrong, because there is no way that my daughter would be stupid enough to marry a vampire, let alone let him feed on her."

Charlie shrugged and then covered up the bite mark again. "I like it when Damon bites me, and I love him."

"_I can't believe that my daughter is a little slut that lets a vampire drink her _blood_!"_

Charlie flinched, feeling as if Karen had slapped her. Suddenly Damon was next to his wife and he glared at his mother-in-law with a burning hate. "Don't you _ever _call her that!" he growled, looking as if he could kill.

Damon had come along so that he could compel Karen right after Charlie got her answers. But now Charlie regretted bringing him along. People were staring at them- they were making a scene. "Damon," Charlie whispered, wanting her husband to calm down.

Karen was frozen in fear, and Damon leaned in close to her. His eyes dilated as he stared right into hers. "How did you find out about me?" he compelled.

"I was told," she answered in a zombie-like voice.

"By who?"

"I can't tell you," she answered.

Damon looked away from Karen to his wife. "I think that the vampires who attacked us told her about me," he said.

"Why would they?" Charlie asked.

Damon shrugged. "To screw with us," he said before turning back to Karen.

"You'll forget all about vampires, and you'll forget that I'm a vampire," he compelled her.

When Damon pulled away, Karen blinked slowly, confused. "What happened?" she asked, dazed.

"We were just saying goodbye, mum. You're leaving Mystic Falls, remember?" Charlie asked, trying her best to sound normal.

Karen nodded slowly. "Yes, well goodbye then, Charlotte," she said, standing up. She shot Damon a dirty look before leaving the Grill.

Charlie sighed when she was gone. Damon instantly looked down at his wife, concerned. "Are you okay?" he asked her.

Charlie nodded. "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" she lied.

"Because your mom called you a slut," Damon said bluntly, venom lacing his voice. Charlie flinched slightly at the memory. It hurt, that her mom thought that about her.

"You're not Charlie, okay?" Damon said, hugging her. If Karen wasn't Charlie's mother, he would've ripped every organ from her body for hurting his Charlie like that.

Charlie nodded. "I know. I've only slept with one guy in my life, and I married him," she smirked slightly up at her husband. "If anyone's a slut, it's you. I don't even want to know how many people you slept with."

Damon narrowed his eyes playfully. "You're going to pay for that one, Missus Salvatore," he teased.

Charlie giggled before pulling away from Damon and running away from him. She felt like a child, and she loved it. Charlie ran out of the Grill, constantly looking over her shoulder for her husband. When she turned down an alley, Damon suddenly appeared in front of her and he caught her.

"Oh, no you don't," he said, before tickling her like crazy. Charlie laughed like crazy as Damon tickled her sides- her most ticklish areas.

"D-D-Damon, s-st-stop!" she managed to get out through the fits of laughter.

"Hmm? What was that?" Damon teased, tickling her more.

"S-st-stop! P-p-p-please!" she gasped out.

Damon smirked before finally letting her go. Charlie gasped for air and glared jokingly up at her husband. "I hate you," she told him, rubbing her stomach.

"Whatever, Char," he told her, before pulling her into his arms and kissing her.

Damon pinned Charlie up against the alley wall, kissing her passionately. Charlie returned the kiss as Damon brought her thigh up to his hip. She moaned into his mouth, and her hands snuck under his shirt to rub his chest.

"Are you two really going to second base in the alley?"

Charlie and Damon pulled away to see Caroline at the end of the alley, looking grossed out. "We would've gone all the way if you hadn't shown up, vampire Barbie," Damon replied with a smirk.

Charlie hit him on the arm. "Be nice," she told him with a frown before walking towards Caroline. "Do you want to hang out?" she asked.

The blonde nodded, and Charlie turned to her husband. "I'll see you at home. Love you," she called to him as she followed Caroline into the Grill.

"Elena told me that you two went on a second honeymoon. How was it?" Caroline asked as they grabbed a table.

"Amazing," Charlie sighed. "Except for this vampire bitch who tried to steal my husband, it was perfect. We put a lot of the lingerie you got me to use."

"Yeah, Elena told me about Rachel. Did you really punch her?"

"I'm actually pretty badass when it comes down to it, Care." Charlie smirked.

Suddenly, Charlie got another chest pain. She gritted her teeth as it happened. Caroline's eyes widened, as she heard Charlie's heart beat irregularly. When it was over, Caroline looked at Charlie, her eyes wide.

"What was that?" she asked, concerned.

Charlie sighed, and then bluntly said, "I have cardiomyopathy."

Charlie spent the next hour explaining everything to Caroline. She told her about how she needed a heart transplant and how she was going to die if she didn't get one. "Why don't you just let Damon change you?" Caroline asked, eyebrows furrowed.

Charlie sighed. "I don't know if I'm ready, Caroline," she told her honestly.

"But you married a vampire. Even if you didn't have a heart disease, did you really think Damon would let you die while he lived forever?"

Charlie shook her head. "It's complicated, Caroline," she said in a tone that made it clear the conversation would be dropped.

Caroline let the conversation drop, and after twenty minutes, Charlie yawned. "Can you take me home? I'm super tired," she asked.

Caroline nodded but excused herself to the bathroom first. As Charlie waited outside for the blonde vampire, she was suddenly joined by an unwelcomed person.

"Hey married, how are you?"

Charlie sighed, and turned around to face the sad day drunk. "I'm not in the best-"

But Charlie never got a chance to finish her sentence, because Jason, the sad day drunk, smashed her head against the brick wall, knocking Charlie out.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **thank you to: drangonrain618, aerocrombielovr16, Samantha meyers, BeckyBoo12221, KimmyWSmith, Be My Baby, TheGrayWitch, hidansgirl1234, lulu-144, and SomebodyWhoCares for reviewing!

Review!

~Abby :)


	24. my strength is your weakness

Chapter twenty three

"_My strength is your weakness,"- Hate and Love by Jack Savoretti and Sienna Miller_

Damon was waiting impatiently for Charlie to come home. He was happy that she had friends, but he didn't like sharing her. it made him sound like a possessive bastard, but it was true. Suddenly, his phone rang and he answered it.

"Hello?"

"_Damon!" _Caroline's voice rang in his ear. She sounded frantic and fearful. _"You need to come to the grill. now!"_

"What happened, Blondie?" he asked suspiciously. Was Charlie hurt? Did her heart fail? Damon's eyes widened at that possibility.

"_Charlie's… missing."_

"What?" Damon snapped, immediately running to the door. "Explain. Now."

"_I left her alone for three minutes, and when I came back, she was gone. But her blood was on the wall of the Grill, I could smell it."_

Damon felt rage build up inside of him and was about to direct it at Caroline. After all, she had let Charlie get taken. But he knew that it would only waist time, precious time. So he bit back curses at Caroline and instead hung up on her.

Five minutes later, Damon was outside of the Grill with Caroline. Indeed, his wife's blood was splattered on the outside wall of the grill. he knew the smell of that blood better than anyone. He cursed and punched the wall in anger. He broke his hand but it healed quickly. He left a hole in the wall though.

"I'm sorry," Caroline said quickly, a little scared. She knew that pre-Charlie Damon would already have her by the throat by know. He didn't know how post-Charlie Damon would react.

"It's not entirely your fault, I guess," Damon said through gritted teeth after a while. "Besides, ripping out your heart would take up too much time and Charlie considers you a friend. If I killed you- no matter how much I want to right now- she'd kill me."

Charlie had Damon whipped, and he didn't even know it.

Damon cursed again, and this time threw a nearby trash can at a car. It broke the windshield and set off the alarm. He was lucky that no humans were around to witness his violent episode, though he didn't care at that moment. His damn attackers had gotten Charlie, he knew it. Who else would take her?

Without another word to Caroline, Damon started walking fast away from the blood spattered wall with a hole in it. He was following the scent leading away from the Grill, one with his wife's familiar scent mixed in with an unfamiliar one.

Caroline decided not to follow the slightly deranged vampire, and instead called his more sane brother. Stefan would be able to help Damon better than she could, and despite Damon's words, she was sure that he still wanted to rip her heart out and shove it back down her throat.

Ten minutes later, Damon followed the scent to the town border. There, the trail went cold. He stood at the exact spot where the scent went dead. He could smell Charlie's perfume in the air- vanilla and jasmine. Her sweet blood mixed with that scent, and his mouth would've watered at any other time. But his fear for his wife was too great.

Who knew where Charlie was or how she was? she was injured, definitely. She might even be-

No, he couldn't think like that. he swore to himself that he wasn't going to lose Charlie, and he wasn't. he was going to get her back, and then he was going to tear the heads off of the people that took her from him in the first place.

"Does her scent end here?"

Damon didn't look at his brother as he walked up to him. he nodded once, thinking hard about where Charlie might be. They killed the werewolves that were living in Mystic Falls, and they had nothing to do with the attacks anyway. They were just trying to live a "normal" life.

"We'll get her back, Damon," Stefan promised him. Damon nodded in agreement with his brother.

"Yeah, we will."

* * *

><p>Charlie's head ached as she woke up. She groaned slightly and touched the back of her head gingerly. There was dried blood, matting her curls. She pulled her hand away and looked around the place she was at. It was pitch black and she couldn't see a thing.<p>

Slowly, Charlie stood up. She had been laying on the cold, hard floor. She made her way to what had to be a door, since there was light sneaking out from the crack below it. She had her hands out in front of her like a blind person. Eventually her hands came in contact with a wooden door, and after searching she found the door knob.

She shielded her eyes from the flood of light when she opened the door. Once her eyes adjusted, she slowly and quietly walked away from the room she was in. Charlie figured out that she was in a small, gross, dingy house, and it seemed that she was alone. She walked down the dirty hallway into an even dirtier living room. She noticed that the windows were covered my curtains, and that whoever owned the house had tried to prevent any sunlight from entering it.

Charlie noticed the front door and made a break from it. But before she could reach the door, an arm snaked around her waist and held her back. she thrashed in the arms but they easily kept her from breaking free.

"You wanna leave so soon, married? We haven't even gotten to have any real fun yet," a familiar voice said into her ear. She could feel the sad day drunk's hot breath on her neck.

"Don't bloody touch me," she growled, before turning around and kneeing Jason in the groin. He groaned and fell to the ground.

"You weren't kidding Jason, she is feisty."

Charlie stiffened at the unfamiliar voice and turned around to see more men in the kitchen, walking towards her. she automatically took three steps back, never taking her eyes off of the men.

"I know," Jason wheezed. "Isn't it hot?"

"Oh, Missus Salvatore is very hot." The man who had spoken earlier leered at her and she glared back.

"So, what are you?" Charlie directed her question at Jason. "Not a vampire or I think that you would've tried to bite me by now. You're stronger than a human, so that rules out a hunter. I'm guessing that you're a werewolf?"

"Very good, married." Jason leered up at her and stood up. "You definitely are smart, I'll give you that."

Suddenly, Jason punched Charlie in the face, sending her flying to the wall. She cried out in pain and held her hand against her bruised cheek. She whimpered in pain but held back the tears that were forming in her eyes. she wouldn't give these bastards the pleasure of seeing her cry. They weren't worth her tears.

"Jason, don't break her just yet," the man chided him, and Charlie got a better look at him. she could almost sense that he was the leader, just by the way he held himself. He looked middle aged, but she guessed that he was older, because of how timeless he seemed.

"Sorry Roger, but that really hurt." Jason shrugged.

Roger gave a half smirk before walking closer to Charlie. "Damon does have good taste," he said softly, his hand brushing her cheekbone. Charlie flinched at his touch.

"So, what did Stefan do, to make vampires, werewolves, and hunters team up and try to kill them?" she asked, successfully keeping fear out of her voice.

"That's a long story, Charlie- can I call you Charlie?" he smirked and didn't wait for her to answer. "We'll have plenty of time together to tell it, as long as you don't keep trying to escape."

Charlie gulped slightly. "He's going to kill you, you know," she whispered.

Jason laughed loudly and obnoxiously. "Yeah, right." He snorted.

"How about you let us worry about your husband and brother-in-law, Charlie?" Roger said before smirking. "I think that you should be more worried about you right now.

And then he sunk his fangs into her throat.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **thank you to: BeckyBoo12221, SomebodyWhoCares, jacquline, dragonrain618, Be My Baby, and KimmyWSmith for reviewing!

I love reviews!

~Abby :D


	25. don't take what you don't need from me

Chapter twenty four

"_Don't take what you don't need from me"- A Drop In The Ocean by Ron Pope_

After Roger pulled away from Charlie, he wiped his mouth as she pressed her sleeve to her neck, trying to stop the bleeding. That was the most painful biting she had ever received from a vampire. She held in her screams though- she wasn't going to give them the pleasure.

"Did you like that, sweetheart?" Roger leered at her, blood visible in his teeth. She gaged slightly at the sight.

"I bet she did- look, her husband's bitten her," one of the other men piped up, pointing to the faded bite mark on the other side of Charlie's neck.

"I can see why, her blood is delicious," Roger said, before pushing Charlie into Jason's arms. "Take her back to her room."

Jason's grip on Charlie's arm was tight and painful, she didn't give any sign that it was. Charlie imagined that she was a vampire, and "turned off" her feelings. She couldn't, of course, but it helped her to not be afraid.

Jason pushed Charlie roughly into the room she was in before, and then slammed the door shut. The room had no windows, but Charlie found a light switch and turned it on, so that a flickering light dimly lit up the room.

She sighed and sat down in the corner of the room, pulling her knees up to her chin. This was about Damon; they had taken her to get to Damon. Charlie wasn't angry at Damon because of it, it wasn't his fault that he loved her and these bastards decided to use it against him. She was glad that they had gotten her instead of her husband- she couldn't imagine how it would feel, to have things flipped, so that Damon was the one they had taken.

Charlie felt like a damsel in distress waiting for her prince to come rescue her. She hated damsels in distress and she didn't want to be one, but there wasn't much she could do. She was just a human in a house full of vampires, werewolves, and hunters. She couldn't fight them off, not even the other humans.

So her only option was to wait for Damon to come rescue her, and she hated that it was. But what could she do? Nothing, Charlie couldn't do anything.

As Charlie rested her head on her knees, exhaustion came over her. She hadn't taken her pills in days, and she could only imagine what everything was doing to her heart. Maybe if she was lucky, her heart would fail before Roger could kill her by ripping her throat open with his teeth. She closed her eyes. No, she couldn't think like that. She had to be positive; she had to have faith in her husband.

Eventually, Charlie drifted off into sleep in a position that was bound to mess up her neck and back. The dream she had did instill more faith in her husband, faith that in turn, gave her a more positive attitude.

_She was on the beach in the Bahamas. It was sunny and there was a light breeze. Charlie was back in one of her skimpy bikinis, lounging in a lawn chair and soaking up the sun's rays. She closed her eyes and sighed contently._

"_Charlie."_

_Her hazel eyes opened at that voice, and when she saw Damon standing in front of her, she beamed and jumped up. His arms wrapped around her waist and he hugged her tightly to him. Charlie smiled into his chest, hugging him back._

"_Where are you?" Damon demanded without pulling away from her._

"_I don't know," she told him. "In a house somewhere. I haven't seen the outside since I got there."_

"_When you wake up, I need you to look outside and try to find some sort of landmark, so that I can find you. Can you do that, Char?" he asked me._

"_I don't want to wake up," she mumbled into his chest._

"_I don't want you to wake up either," Damon said, hugging her even tighter. _

"_I love you," Charlie said suddenly, looking up at him. "In case something happens, I want you to know that."_

"_Don't say that, Charlie," Damon groaned. "I'm going to get you back, I promise."_

_And I'll hold you to that," she agreed, a serious glint in her hazel eyes. "But in case something goes wrong, can you just say that you love me too?"_

_Damon sighed before kissing his wife's forehead. "I love you Charlie, and I'm going to find you."_

_And with those words, Charlie woke up._

* * *

><p>For most of the next day, Charlie sat in the room. She didn't get a chance to look outside like Damon had asked of her, not even when Jason brought her food- which consisted of old crackers, a bruised apple, and water. She ate it all though, since she was starving.<p>

She hadn't gotten another dream featuring Damon again, though she looked forward to them every time she fell asleep. She knew that he was out there looking for her, and she couldn't wait to feel his arms around her for real.

"Come here, Charlie."

Charlie was playing with her wedding ring when Jason opened her door and called her. She stayed sitting, forcing him to groan and march over to her. He grabbed her by her curls and yanked her up. Charlie held back her yelp, biting down on her bottom lip.

"When I tell you to do something, do it," Jason growled in her ear before releasing her hair. He pushed Charlie forward, and she walked out of the room and into the living room. Roger and his cronies were waiting for her.

"Hello Charlie, sweetheart." Roger smirked at her, before gesturing for her to sit down in a chair in the middle of the room. When she didn't budge, Jason dug his fingers into her shoulders and forced her down into it.

"I've decided to send your husband a little video, let him know just how much fun we're having here," Roger said, before pulling out Charlie's phone.

"And action," he said, pressing play. Charlie stared into the camera, her eyes expressionless. She didn't move or talk, and eventually she let her eyes wander around the room, stopping at the window. If she could just get closer to it…

"Aw, come on Charlie. You're not making this video very exciting." Roger groaned. Then he smirked menacingly before gesturing another vampire behind him. "Go have fun with her, Marc."

Her eyes widened as the vampire approached her. Without a word, he bit roughly into her neck. Her mouth opened as if to scream, but she stopped herself. Charlie closed her eyes and waited for it to be over. Eventually the vampire had had enough and he pulled away from her neck.

"How was that, Charlie?" Roger asked her in a mock interview voice. "What would you like to say to your husband? They'll probably be your last, you know. It's all his fault you're here in the first place."

"Go to hell," she spat, glaring.

Roger laughed arrogantly. "I see why you like her, Damon. She's feisty- it's hot."

Suddenly, Jason grabbed Charlie roughly and kissed her. His mouth was hot on hers, and he tasted like beer. Charlie beat on his back, trying to get away. When he did let go of her, she slapped him across the face, causing the men around them to "ooh" like children.

Jason glared fiercely at her, before pushing her out of the chair, causing Charlie to hit her head on the floor. Her vision blurred for a second before Jason grabbed her by the throat and yanked her up.

"Don't you _ever _do that again," he growled at her, before throwing her against the wall. Charlie's head smacked painfully against the wall and she fell to the floor like a ragdoll. She lay still on the floor, her entire body in pain.

Charlie looked up and peered out the window. A dirty neighborhood met her eyes, but she managed to catch a street sign and a house number. 233 Jaybird Lane. She repeated that to herself over and over as Jason yanked her back up.

"And cut!" Roger yelled, laughing. "That was great, perfect."

"Why are you doing this? What did Damon do to you?" Charlie blurted out, the back of her head aching with pain.

"He took everything away from me Charlie, I'm just returning the favor," Roger said, all humor leaving his eyes. Then he blinked and his smirk returned. "Put her back in her room, Jason."

Charlie allowed Jason to drag her back to the small, dingy room, her mind trying to process his cryptic words. What had her husband done?

Charlie returned to her corner, and tried her hardest to fall asleep. She had an address- or at least most of one. She'd tell Damon it and then he'd come save her from these bastards. She wouldn't care when he would kill them all, because of what they'd done to her, to them.

Charlie finally drifted off to sleep, praying that Damon would be in her dreams.

* * *

><p>Damon watched the video over and over again. He memorized every single thing that happened to his wife- he was going to make those assholes pay for it. He also looked for anything he recognized, anything that might tell him where she was. The only good thing the video told him was that Charlie was alive.<p>

As Damon played the video again, looking for anything he might've missed the first four times, he suddenly heard a familiar voice. It belonged to the man recording the video, and Damon had heard it before.

"You're going to drive yourself crazy if you watch that video again," Stefan said, walking into the living room. Damon didn't take his eyes off of the video though.

"I know who it is, Stefan," Damon said suddenly. "I know who took Charlie."

Damon knew who voice that was, but instead of making him feel any better of having a lead, Damon felt worse. If Roger had Charlie, his job of getting her back just got a hundred times harder.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **I think that this story is reaching its end. I'm not sure how many chapters are left- could be ten or it could be two (it's definitely not two.)

Thank you to: Stefanie, Lady Syndra, BeckyBoo12221, SomebodyWhoCares, KimmyWSmith, and Be My Baby for reviewing!

Review!

~Abby :)


	26. my heart is burning red

Chapter twenty five

"_My heart is burning red,"- Pardon Me by He is We_

_Charlie was back on the beach, back in the skimpy, revealing bikini. As soon as she saw Damon, Charlie ran to him and through her arms around his neck. he hugged her to him, a serious look on his face._

"_Charlie, I-"he started to say, but she cut him off._

"_I have a street name, Damon," she said excitedly. "233 jaybird lane, that's where I am."_

_Damon's eyes widened. "You sure?" he asked her._

_Charlie nodded. "Okay, I'm coming to get you now, Char," he told her seriously, planting a quick kiss on her lips. _

"_But wait, what were you going to tell me?" Charlie asked, frowning slightly._

"_Oh. Nothing really important, I just know who took you. Now I'm going to kill them all," Damon said in a dangerous voice._

"_What did you do to piss them off, Damon?" Charlie asked him._

_Damon shrugged. "I don't know," he told her. but by a look in his blue eyes, Charlie was sure that Damon did know._

"_Damon-" she started to say, but he cut her off._

"_I need to go, Charlie. The sooner I get to you, the better," her husband said. Damon kissed her again softly, before disappearing._

Charlie woke up with a gasp. Damon knew where she was, and he was coming for her now. But what was he hiding from her? what did Damon do to piss off all of the vampires, werewolves, and hunters? What did he do to piss off Roger?

As if on cue, Jason suddenly appeared at her door. "Roger wants you," he said gruffly.

Charlie didn't want to get her hair pulled again, so she stood up and walked back into the living room. Her body still ached from the last time she had been there, but the fact that Damon was coming for her brightened her up considerably.

"Hey Charlie." Roger smirked and gestured for her to sit down in the same chair from before. She did so without arguing.

"Are you ready to hear a story about your husband?" he asked her with a falsely excited voice. Charlie didn't respond, so Jason slapped her across the face.

she let out a whimper, her left cheek burning. "Yes," she muttered through gritted teeth.

"Good, because you're going to love this story- I know I do," Roger said, a smirk on his lips.

Charlie knew that Damon had done something bad, really bad. She vowed to herself that she wouldn't let it change how she felt about Damon. that wasn't the Damon she fell in love with- whoever did the things she was about to hear about was the monster in Damon.

"Once upon a time there was a beautiful witch named Cassidy. She was very self-righteous- like most witches, but she tolerated vampires much more than others. And I was irrevocably in love with her," Roger started, a pained look in his eyes when he mentioned Cassidy. But when he closed his eyes and reopened them, it went away.

"One day, fifteen years ago, your husband paid her a visit. He wanted her help in opening a tomb to get Katherine Pierce out. Cass refused, so he ripped her heart out," Roger finished, his tone emotionless. "Ever since then, I swore to myself that I would avenge her death, and so I am. At first, I was going to kill Damon. we attacked Stefan to lure him back here and then planned to kill both, but then I found out about you, Miss Charlie, and my planned changed. Damon really loves you, just like I love Cassidy. I'm not going to kill Damon, not anymore. I'm going to kill you, his brother, and the doppelganger of Katherine. I want Damon Salvatore to have nothing. I want him to have to live with that feeling for the rest of his existence. Death would be a sweet relief compared to what's in store for him."

Charlie stared up at Roger, horrified. Damon killed the woman he loved, because she refused to help him, so Roger planned to kill her to make it even. An eye for an eye. "Turns out, I'm not the only one with a grudge against Damon Salvatore," Roger continued, smirking at Charlie's speechlessness. "Everyone here has a reason to want Damon dead-at least on the inside- so we decided to band together and make it happen."

"I'm sorry," Charlie said quietly. "I'm sorry he killed her. he had no right to."

Roger rolled his eyes. "It's too late for sorry, Charlie."

"Yes, it is. but that doesn't make mine any less sincere," she said honestly.

A look passed through Roger's eyes as he reconsidered his actions. Charlie reminded him of Cassidy, in a way. For a second, it made him want to spare her life. Then it made him want her dead even more. Roger glared at Charlie, before saying coldly, "Take her back to her room while we prepare everything."

Charlie's stomach sank, and she knew that he meant that they were preparing to kill her. Damon had better come save her soon, or she'd be dead. Jason yanked her roughly back towards her room, as she tried to brainstorm a way to escape. By the time Damon got here, she'd be dead, unless she escaped.

Charlie looked around the dark room she was in as Jason slammed the door shut roughly. It was scarcely decorated, and Charlie looked around for any kind of weapon. It would be a suicide mission, trying to get out of this house. But Charlie did know how to fight, and was a bit of a badass behind her girly dresses and curls.

She broke a leg off of a wooden chair, her heart beating wildly and irregularly as she tried to come up with some sort of plan. She had made a lot of noise, breaking the chair, so Jason was bound to come check on her. that would be when she'd strike.

as if on cue, Jason walked into her room again, looking annoyed. Before he could open his mouth or Charlie could second guess herself, she shoved the wooden leg into his stomach. Jason groaned and fell to the floor. She yanked her only weapon out of his stomach, and then ran out of the room.

Instead of running into the living room, Charlie made a sharp left and ran into a bedroom- one that happened to have a window. quickly and efficiently, she broke the glass window, and crawled through it, causing the glass to cut her on her legs and her blood to spill.

She ignored the stings of her injuries, and jumped the six foot distance from the window to the floor. Her ankles stung at the impact, but Charlie shook it off and started sprinting. She heard shouts from the house as she took off sprinting down the deserted street. The neighborhood she was in was full of abandoned and gratified houses, and she knew that she wasn't in a good part of town.

Charlie didn't look over her shoulder as she ran- it would only distract her from running. She could hear somebody running after her, and knew that she was no match for a vampire. In an attempt to escape from her pursuers, Charlie made a sharp right and ran into a small patch of trees that thickened the deeper you ran into it.

She struggled to catch her breath, her lungs burning. Charlie forced herself to keep running, though she just wanted to rest. She ran deep into the woods, branches whipping against her and scratching her. Charlie could hear that somebody was catching up with her, and tried to run faster, but she couldn't. as Charlie struggled to run faster, she tripped over a rock and fell to the dirt covered ground.

Charlie let out a yelp of pain as her pursuer ripped her off up the ground by the hair. She managed to see that it was Roger, before he slammed her against a nearby tree and sunk his fangs into her neck.

Damon broke down the door of the house, Alaric and Stefan behind him. hunters, werewolves, and vampires alike lunged for them, but Damon killed them almost absentmindedly in his desperation to find his wife. Her scent filled the house, yet he couldn't hear her telltale irregular heartbeat.

He knew what Roger was planning- he was going to kill Charlie because he killed that witch Cassidy all those years ago. He regretted his reckless, impulsive, and anger-filled action now, because it ended up putting his wife's life on the line. If only Damon could turn back time…

"She's not here," Damon breathed after searching the house for his wife and finding nothing. "Where is she?"

"Charlie probably tried to run away. I can smell her blood outside," Stefan said from behind him, gesturing to a broken window that had his wife's blood on it.

The brothers followed the blood trail down the street to a small patch of woods. Damon kept his ears open, hoping to hear Charlie. When they got deep into the woods, Damon heard a yelp of pain that made him run faster than he thought possible, leaving his brother behind.

When Damon saw Roger feeding on his wife, he felt white-hot rage boil up inside of him. he let out a growl before attacking Roger and ripping him off of his wife. Charlie fell to the ground, pressing a hand to the bloody wound on her neck.

"You killed Cassidy- it's only fair that I make you feel what I feel every day, Salvatore," Roger growled at him, his face still contorted, his fangs still exposed.

Damon didn't bother to argue, because he knew that it was true. Damon caused this mess himself, and nothing he could say could excuse his actions. So instead, Damon did what Damon did best.

He ripped out Roger's heart.

Damon dropped Roger's heart and turned to his wife, only concerned for her at that moment. Her eyes were filled with unasked questions that he knew that he would have to answer later. But instead, he pulled Charlie into his arms and fed her his blood.

"I told you that I'd come for you," he mumbled into her dark curls as he hugged her tightly. Damon would have a lot of explaining to do later, but all that mattered at that moment was that he had his Charlie back.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **I'm sorry for the lack of update- I had a killer essay for school take up most of my time.

Thank you to: hidansgirl1234, KimmyWSmith, Be My Baby, Lady Syndra, Stefanie, SomebodyWhoCares, and Corra98 for reviewing!

Reviews are inspiring!

~Abby :)


	27. this is how i show my love

Chapter twenty six

"_This is how I show my love,"- Sail by AWOLNATION_

Charlie groaned softly as she woke up. At first she expected to be in the dark, dirty room again, but she was in her warm, safe bed. She sat up and looked around for her husband to find him standing in the doorway, staring at her.

Despite the fact that Charlie had just escaped from a near-death situation caused by Damon, and that she still needed to talk about him killing Cassidy for really no good reason, the first thing Charlie did when she saw Damon was jump into his arms and latch her lips onto his.

Damon kissed her back just as roughly, his hands slipping under her shirt. The kiss was lustful and passionate and needy. It was the kiss that lovers shared after being apart for a long time. It was the kiss that lovers shared after being apart for a long time. Charlie moaned against Damon's mouth, her hands struggling to unbutton his shirt. Damon ripped her clothes off, leaving Charlie just in her bra and panties, and then helped her undress him.

Charlie wrapped her arms around her husband's neck as he lifted her up and pushed her against the bedroom wall. Her legs wrapped around his waist and she screamed into his shoulder as they made love up against the wall.

After an hour full of hot reunion sex, Charlie rested her head on her husband's bare chest, not speaking, not moving. Now that Charlie was sure that Damon was real, that he wasn't another dream, the questions she had pushed out of her head came crawling back. Why did Damon kill Cassidy? Was he really that impulsive that her refusal to help him set him off?

"You're mad at me, aren't you?"

His voice brought her out of her thoughts. Charlie didn't bother to raise her head to look at him. "No, I don't think so," she said in a calm, pensive voice.

"You should be," Damon said bluntly, one hand going through her dark curls. "I'm the reason you almost died Charlie, the reason we all I almost died."

"I told myself that I wouldn't let what Roger told me change how I feel about you, and I haven't. I just feel bad for Roger- he loved her so, so much," Charlie said, closing her eyes.

"And then I killed them both," Damon finished darkly.

She sighed. "I'm just glad that it's over with," she said, deciding on changing the subject.

"It is," he agreed, seeing through her obvious change of topic, but letting it slide. "We can start packing, I guess."

"Yeah, about that," Charlie said, sitting up and brushing her messy sex hair out of her face, "I don't think that I want to go back to New York."

His eyebrows shot up. "You don't?"

Charlie shook her head. "I like it here," she said simply, though her reasons went far deeper than that. In the midst of all of the attacks on them, her cardiomyopathy had all but been forgotten. If and when her heart finally gave out, Charlie wanted Damon to be near his brother and his best friend- a slightly alcoholic, ex-vampire hunter.

"Why?" he asked, his eyebrows furrowed slightly.

She shrugged. "It's quaint, and- let's face it- there's never a dull moment here."

"Yeah, with all the fundraisers, balls, and murdering supernatural creatures, this town is just full of excitement," Damon said sarcastically, earning a playful push.

"Whatever. Do you oppose staying here more permanently?" she asked, standing up.

"I go where you go babe," Damon told her simply, shrugging. Charlie smiled before walking towards the door. She was suddenly stopped when Damon blurted out an all too familiar question.

"Why won't you let me change you? Does spending all of eternity with me really seem that bad?"

Charlie sighed and turned to face him. "Of course not, Damon," she soothed him.

"Then why won't you become a vampire, Charlie?" Damon exclaimed, frustrated. He sat up and ran a hand through his hair.

"Because I don't want to be a monster!" she shouted.

Damon stared at her for a few moments, thinking about her confession. Charlie didn't want to be a monster like he was, like most vampires were. It seemed impossible, that his Charlie- sweet, polite, friendly, outgoing Charlie could ever be a monster. But it was humans like her that turned out to be some of the more monstrous vampires.

"I'm scared, okay? I'm scared that my humanity's going to be off for good and I'm going to turn into some blood craving crazy. I don't want to kill, Damon. I'm not a killer," she said quietly.

"There are other ways to survive as a vampire besides killing," he reminded her, thinking about his wife turning into the blood crazed monster she didn't want to be. He didn't want her to be a blood thirsty monster any more than she wanted to be one.

"You and I both know that all vampires end up killing, and I don't think that I could live with myself, if I killed an innocent person," she argued before sighing.

"It's not that I don't want to be with you forever, Damon. Believe me, being with you for eternity is the only reason I'm even thinking about turning," Charlie said, walking up to him and wrapping her arms around his waist.

"You're thinking about it?" he asked her, automatically pulling her to him.

She nodded, her head bobbing under his chin. "We have time, Damon," she assured her husband.

That was a lie though, and both knew it. Neither said anything, as the husband and wife both thought about if Charlie's love for Damon was strong enough to make her become the monster she didn't want to be.

* * *

><p>"So, all of them are dead?"<p>

Charlie was sitting on the couch, a book in her hands. Damon insisted that she relax that day, because of all the stress that was, undoubtedly, put on her heart the past days. When her husband walked into the living room, the random question fell from her lips without a second thought.

Damon knew what she meant, though. "Yeah, and it was fun, too." He smirked at his wife before tossing himself onto the couch and resting his head in her lap.

Charlie frowned down at him. "I didn't ask if you enjoyed killing them, Damon."

"I'm just saying that if you decide to join me in vampirism that ripping the hearts out of werewolves is a very fun hobby that we could take up together," Damon said, a smirk on his lips.

Charlie pushed him off of the couch and he fell to the floor. She laughed out loud and Damon frowned at her before getting up. "What? Isn't that what married couples do, take up hobbies together to try to keep the spark alive in their marriage?"

She rolled her eyes. "First, ripping out hearts isn't a proper hobby. Second, the spark is still very much alive in our marriage."

Damon smirked before sitting down on the couch again. "I know- the hot wall sex this morning proved that," he said smugly.

Charlie hit his arm. "Is this your new pastime? With Roger and his cronies dead, you're going to spend all your time trying to convince me to turn?" she asked, closing her book and setting it down on a table.

"Notice how both of them involve keeping you alive," Damon said dryly, causing Charlie to sigh.

"Technically, if I became a vampire, I'd be dead," she pointed out, causing Damon to frown at her.

"To answer your question, yes it's my new goal to convince you to become a vampire," he added, throwing an arm around her shoulders.

Charlie sighed. It had been all she could think about, becoming a vampire. She didn't have much time left, and both of them knew it. It was taking all of Damon's self-control, not to forcefully change Charlie. That and the knowledge that she would hate him forever for taking that decision out of her hands. But again, both of them knew that if it came down to Charlie dying or Charlie hating Damon because he turned her, Damon would always choose the latter. At least she would be alive then.

"I am thinking about it, Damon. Really, I am," she told him quietly.

He just kissed her temple before standing up. "Let's go to the Grill," he suggested, and she raised an eyebrow.

"I thought that I was on house arrest?" Charlie asked, standing up.

"I'm letting you off early for good behavior," Damon said, and she smirked mischievously.

"How about we keep the trip to the Grill short and then we can go back to the bedroom and I can show you how bad I can be," Charlie whispered seductively, causing Damon to groan lust and desire glazing over his eyes.

"If you keep talking like that, I'm going to skip the Grill altogether and drag you up to our room right now," he said huskily, and she giggled.

"Patience, love," Charlie murmured before pulling her husband out of the house.

* * *

><p>"You know; if all you two are going to do is make out, feel free to leave."<p>

Charlie pulled away from Damon, though he kept his arms firmly around her waist. She smiled apologetically at Alaric while Damon just smirked and kissed his wife's neck. "Sorry Ric, we'll try to stop with the P.D.A," she said, frowning at Damon and untangling from him.

"Yeah, we can easily move to the bathroom," Damon said, tugging on her arm.

Charlie sighed. "I'm not having bathroom sex, Damon," she said firmly, causing Alaric to roll his eyes at the awkward conversation.

"Why not? Might as well make this day filled with kinky sex," Damon said and Charlie shook her head again, a small smile on her lips.

"You're insatiable," she muttered, taking a sip of her drink.

"That's another plus of being a vampire- you have more stamina." Damon smirked. Charlie just rolled her eyes.

Suddenly, a waitress brought her a drink, and Charlie frowned. "Who's this from?" she asked.

"That man." she gestured with her head towards the back corner of the room before walking away. Alaric, Charlie, and Damon all turned to look who had sent her the drink. When she saw who it was, she froze.

Jason smirked and waved at them, still very much alive.

"I thought that you said that you killed them all," Charlie said, turning to face her husband.

"I thought I did," Damon responded, before standing up. "No problem- give me five minutes."

But Jason was already gone.

Damon sighed before turning to Alaric who was already standing up. "Apparently he wants to play chase before I rip his heart out," he said, sounding slightly annoyed.

"I have weapons in your car," Alaric responded, before walking away to go get them. Charlie frowned as Damon handed her her jacket.

"Come on, I'll take you home," he said.

"I want to stay here," she insisted stubbornly.

Damon sighed. "We don't know if there are still more running around, Charlie," he argued.

"And I'll be safe with a crowd of people surrounding me. I'll call Stefan to come get me if you're not back when I'm ready to leave," Charlie assured Damon.

He looked to be arguing with himself, before he sighed and kissed her quickly goodbye. Charlie watched him leave, hoping that neither him nor Alaric got hurt trying to kill Jason.

Charlie's mind wandered as she sipped her drink silently. She thought about becoming a vampire, and the things that were stopping her from becoming one. Charlie didn't want to be a monster, and it was inevitable that she would kill somebody if she became a vampire. Plus, turning would be admitting defeat against her cardiomyopathy. Charlie wanted to beat this disease, she was sure that she could. If she turned, she would be giving up.

But Charlie's heart was going to fail soon. She could practically hear the ticks of the nonexistent clock counted down to the moment when her heart would finally give out. It was a miracle that she was alive this long.

Charlie knew that the only way that she could survive was if she became a vampire, and Charlie didn't want to die. Plus, she wanted to be with Damon forever. She was hurting him, she knew. Damon wanted her to immediately decide to become one, to say that he was worth every bad side-effect of being a vampire. But Charlie had to think about every little detail of vampirism, she couldn't rush into this.

Charlie spent the next hour going over the pros and cons of being a vampire in her head. She wondered if Damon would help her control her urges to kill, and knew that he would. Because that was what she wanted, and, honestly, Charlie wouldn't be Charlie if she was ripping out throats.

After hours of deep thinking, Charlie finally came to her final decision, and she knew that it was permanent, her decision. She wouldn't be swayed from it.

Charlie was going to become a vampire.

A small smile formed on her lips, as she stood up. She couldn't wait for Damon to get back from killing Jason so that she could tell him. She wondered when they'd do it. Right away, as in that night? Charlie wanted to enjoy a few more days of being human, though.

Suddenly, a sharp pain hit Charlie's heart, a more painful hit than she had ever experienced. She gasped slightly and placed a hand over her heart. The pain didn't fade- if anything, it increased. Charlie knew at that moment, that her clock had ticked down, that her time was up.

She barely had time to gasp before she fell to the floor. And then Charlie's damaged heart finally gave out.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **so, does anyone care to know why I took so freaking long to update? I had a very long paper for school due this week that was taking up most of my time. Plus, on Thursday, I got super sick and was throwing up. And then this weekend I went on a mini-vacation with my family and wasn't able to write at all. Good news- I have spring break this week and plan to finish up this story.

Thank you to: .twilight, Be My Baby, KimmyWSmith, and SomebodyWhoCares for reviewing!

Reviews are amazing!

~Abby :)


	28. it happens in a blink

Chapter twenty seven

"_It happens in a blink,"- Blink by Revive_

"Where the hell is he?" Damon growled. After hours, he and Alaric still couldn't find Jason.

Suddenly, his phone started to ring. He expected it to be Charlie, but it was an unknown number. Damon frowned, but answered it, Alaric watching him curiously from the passenger seat.

"Hello?" he asked gruffly.

"_Mister Damon Salvatore?" _a sweet, soothing, unfamiliar, feminine voice asked him.

"Yeah, what is it?" Damon asked, confused.

"_I'm so sorry to inform you that your wife, Charlotte has had something terrible happen to her. her heart has failed-"_

Damon's world stopped at that moment, the phone literally slipping from his hand and clattering to the floor. No. _no. _they were supposed to have more time. Charlie had promised more time. He was supposed to have days to convince her to become a vampire, weeks even. And now, now she might be de-

No, Damon didn't know that for sure. Ignoring Ric, Damon quickly grabbed his phone, and ignoring the voice on the other line, he bluntly asked, "Is she still alive?"

Damon prepared himself for the "no," for the insincere apology, for the rush of life-ending pain that was sure to engulf him when he realized that Charlie was gone for good. Thankfully, none of those came.

"_Yes, she is. she is in a very fragile condition though. Her mother has already been alerted of the situation-" _Damon didn't bother to listen to the rest. He didn't care if Karen was going to be there, he just knew that he needed to get to his wife as soon as possible. Damon hung up on the feminine voice and instantly gunned towards the hospital. He barely registered that Alaric was in the passenger seat.

"Damon, what happened?" he asked carefully, noticing the hollowness, half-dead look in Damon's eyes. there was also a bit of determination in there too.

"Charlie… Charlie's heart finally gave out. She still alive though, so I can only imagine that someone managed to get her heart going again, long enough to get her to the hospital," Damon replied in a tired voice, lacking the sarcastic and smart-ass tone that was Damon Salvatore.

"Oh, god…" Alaric felt dread run through him. he legitimately liked Charlie, and even though he would never, ever admit it, he and Damon were friends. He didn't want Charlie to die, and he would honestly be sad if she did.

There was silence the rest of the drive to the hospital. Alaric didn't complain that Damon was going about twenty miles over the speed limit and almost hit an old lady crossing the street. When they finally made it to the hospital, Damon got out of the car and practically sprinted inside, desperate to get to Charlie. Alaric waited outside and called Stefan. He'd want to know that his sister-in-law was just hanging on to her life.

Everything blurred as Damon rushed to get to his wife. Time, places, people. He didn't remember what he said to the lady at the front desk, his mind just focused on getting to Charlie. He needed to get to her.

He waited impatiently in the elevator alone- It was going to slow for him. after what had to be hours in the painfully slow elevator, Damon got out and half ran to Charlie's room. A large glass window made her room visible to the outside room, and Damon's dead heart skipped a beat when he saw her still form. Even in a coma, Charlie was still beautiful. She'd always be beautiful to him.

Charlie was still, too still. She was also too pale, and she was pale to begin with. Her freckles were still visible from his spot at the window, her dark curls cast around her. Damon could see the slight movements of her chest as she inhaled and exhaled. There were machines attached to her by wires and chords, beeping loudly in the white, sterile room. They were the only things keeping her alive, and for how long?

Charlie wasn't going to come back from this, not on her own. The only way she was going to come back was if Damon fed her his blood and then killed her. but he didn't know if Charlie wanted that. was Damon selfish enough to change her without her consent, just to keep her forever?

Yes.

Suddenly, a middle aged woman appeared at Charlie's side, looking just as emotionally tired as Damon. she sat down at her side and squeezed Charlie's fragile hand, murmuring comforting nonsense to her. Karen's eyes drifted away from her daughter up to Damon. she glared at her son-in-law when she saw him, and instantly stood up to close the blinds on the window.

Damon stared at blind-covered window, still imagining his wife's still form through it. He ached to hold her, to brush a stray curl behind her ear, to listen to her playful giggles, to kiss her. Damon ached to tell her just how much he loved her, which was a lot.

This was his punishment, he knew. Falling so madly in love with a girl with a heart disease was Damon's punishment for killing so many innocent people, for liking it. Whatever gods there were, if there even were any, they probably enjoyed giving Damon the best thing in his life, and then yanking it away. They were probably laughing their asses off.

Damon's earlier thoughts returned to him. his only shot at keeping Charlie was to turn her, to feed her his blood and then to somehow kill her. Damon so wanted to. He wanted his Charlie forever. But was Damon Salvatore selfish enough to take that choice away from his wife?

Yes. Yes he was.

* * *

><p>Charlie was a ghost.<p>

As soon as she passed out, she suddenly appeared over her body, like a ghost. She was frozen, just staring at her body as the life slowly faded out of her. even after a person started CPR on her and managed to get her heart beating again, Charlie stayed in her ghost form, invisible to the world.

She knew that this wasn't good, that she was a ghost. Charlie didn't know how to get back into her body either. She figured that when- or if- she got brought out of her coma, she would go back into her body. Until then, there wasn't much for Charlie to do.

Charlie found herself in the hospital as they brought her body in, desperately trying to save her. she waited for Damon, needing to see him. she wondered that he might be able to see her, because he was a vampire.

She stood outside of her room, as if guarding her body. As Charlie waited for her husband, she thought about her decision she had made just before her heart failed. Was fate that cruel? Cruel enough to try to kill her right after she decided to live forever with her vampire husband? Apparently.

It was a strange thing, being a ghost. Besides the sheet over the head, everything was stereotypical. Clearly, nobody could see her, and she could put her body through walls. Charlie would've thought that it was cool, but she knew that she was too close to death for comfort. She didn't know if she could talk, because she hadn't tried.

Charlie thought that she had seen other ghosts in the hospital, making her situation that much more real. She saw them outside of rooms, standing over crying people, probably grieving over that ghost's recent death. They didn't acknowledge her or anyone else, so she didn't acknowledge them either.

She was broken out of her thoughts when her mother marched into her hospital room. Charlie sighed at the sight of her, and crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the doorway of the room. The last thing Damon needed right now was her mother. But Charlie's view point changed the moment Karen burst into tears at the sight of her daughter, half dead.

"Oh, mum…" Charlie sighed, walking up to her mother. It was so easy to forget that Karen really did just want the best for her daughter. Her heart was in the right place, but her actions were just all wrong. Karen Hart was just a mother who might lose her only child. It didn't justify her actions, but it made Charlie resent her less.

Charlie placed a comforting arm around her mother's shaking shoulders, but she couldn't touch her. Charlie sighed in frustration before retreating into the corner of the room. Being a ghost was frustrating and it was turning Charlie bitter very quickly.

Charlie watched her mother cry for a few more minutes before Karen finally composed herself. When she left to go order around the doctors and the nurses, Charlie walked over to her body. She frowned slightly, studying herself. Silently, she willed herself to wake up. Of course, it didn't work. But watching herself made Charlie realize how much she didn't want to die.

Suddenly, she felt like she was being watched. Charlie turned around to see Damon watching her from the window. her breath caught, and for a second she thought that Damon could see her. but his gaze was firmly on the comatose Charlie in the hospital bed, not ghost Charlie. She sighed again, but walked out of the room to be with her husband.

"Oh, love. This is what you get for falling in love with a broken human," Charlie muttered to her husband, walking to his side.

Of course, Damon couldn't hear her. she wished that he could, though. It was a lonely thing, being a ghost. Charlie's hand brushed his and she pretended that they were holding hands. She hoped that by some miracle she pulled through for Damon's sake. For her mother's sake, too, but mostly for Damon.

"Change me, Damon. please, I want you to," Charlie told her husband, willing him to hear her. she groaned in frustration when he obviously didn't.

"I love you, love. Never forget that," Charlie whispered to Damon before placing a tender kiss on his lips. For one second, she swore that she could feel his lips against hers. But that was probably just a mixture of Charlie's imagination and memory.

* * *

><p>Damon sat at Charlie's bedside, her fragile hand in his. Oh, how he wanted to feed her his blood right now, so that when she did die, she would come back for sure. Even Stefan had told him to turn her, and that was Saint Stefan talking. But he couldn't bring himself to do something that might make Charlie hate him.<p>

Karen was off bossing doctors around and trying to find a heart that would work for Charlie. Of course, there wasn't. no one kept a spare heart lying around, and Karen knew it too. She just needed something to do.

Stefan was off getting Damon blood. he was forcing him to drink, though Damon didn't want to, not even a little bit. Maybe if Charlie died, he could die with her. that way he wouldn't have to spend all of eternity in pain over her death.

Damon stared at his wrist, willing himself to bite it and feed Charlie his blood. so what, if she hated him for turning her? she'd get over it eventually. As long as Charlie was alive- in a sense- Damon didn't care.

He kissed Charlie's pale cheek and brushed a curl out of her face. "I love you, Char," he whispered to his unconscious wife. Then he went back to arguing with himself about turning Charlie.

Finally, after what had to be hours, Damon came to a conclusion. He knew what he had to do, and he did it without second guessing himself. Now he just had to wait to face the aftermath.

* * *

><p>Jason stood outside of Charlie's hospital room. A middle aged woman was asleep in a chair next to her, and neither Salvatore brother was in the room. Perfect.<p>

Jason walked up to the comatose girl's bedside. It was foolish of the brothers to leave Charlie alone. She was so vulnerable, an easy target, an easy kill. Perfect because Jason wasn't in the mood to fight. His pack was dead and he was all alone. The least he could do was try to finish what the others had started.

Jason managed to turn off Charlie's heart monitor so that it wouldn't alert every doctor in the building when it flat lined. Then, with ease, Jason turned off the machines keeping Charlie's heart beating.

He didn't bother to wait around for her die, and instead walked out of the room. Charlie Salvatore was dead before he walked out of her hospital room.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **so I'm not sure how realistic the part about the heart monitor is. can you turn those off? I don't know, I'm no expert on medical equipment. If it's inaccurate, let's all pretend that it isn't.

The prologue fits in between the end of the part where Charlie's a ghost and before the part where Damon's deciding whether or not to turn her.

Only two more chapters left, I think!

Thank you to: BiteMe3313, Be My Baby, Kimmy W. Smith, nickiROx, Stefanie, Samantha meyers, and SomebodyWhoCares for reviewing!

Review!

~Abby :)


	29. cry until it's over

Chapter twenty eight

"_Cry until it's over,"- Cry by Jason Walker_

Damon and Stefan walked back to Charlie's room silently. Stefan had managed to convince Damon to feed and the elder Salvatore brother had needed the blood. suddenly, Damon stopped walking, a unfortunately familiar scent hitting him.

"What?" Stefan asked him, stopping too.

Suddenly, realization hit him. "Oh no," Damon whispered before he ran off. Stefan followed his brother, seriously confused.

Damon knew something was wrong as soon as he reached the room. complete silence. No beeping from machines. No weak, irregular heartbeat. Only one steady heartbeat coming from Karen. Damon ran to his wife's side, and his eyes widened at what he found.

Charlie was dead.

It hadn't hit Damon fully, as he stared, unblinkingly, down at his wife. Charlotte Marie Matthews, born October 22, 1989 was dead. Stefan suddenly appeared next to his brother, looking down at his dead sister-in-law as well.

"No…" Stefan whispered, not believing it as well. The bubbly, sweet British girl who had changed his brother for the better couldn't possibly be dead.

Just as Stefan turned to try to console his brother in any way possible, Damon suddenly let out a shaky laugh. It was full of relief, as if he had just dodged a terrible tragedy. in realty, one had just happened.

"Damon-?" Stefan was confused by how he was acting. Damon had just lost his wife, and now he was laughing.

Damon ignored his brother and bent down and kissed his wife's cold lips. He grinned as if there was a private joke between him and Charlie. Finally, Damon looked up at his brother. "I fed her my blood before she died, Stefan."

Relief instantly ran through Stefan. He let out a shaky laugh too, identical to his brother's. the bubbly, sweet British girl wasn't gone for good.

Damon hadn't felt more relieved than he did at that moment. He was so glad that he had given Charlie his blood. if he hadn't, he'd be a widow right now. Damon kissed Charlie again, this time on the forehead. He knew that she might be pissed when she came to, but Damon didn't care, as long as she was alive. He'd have forever to get her to forgive him.

* * *

><p>Damon was sure that Charlie was going to hate him more for the story he compelled people to think, her own mother to think. He compelled everyone to think that Charlie was dead for good. He had his reasons, though. It would make things easier in the long run, and it would make Jason think that he had killed her successfully.<p>

He had watched as Karen sobbed over Charlie's "dead" body. He allowed the doctors to take her away to the hospital morgue, only to steal her back later. He had to compel even more people, because he couldn't allow Karen to bury Charlie, but it all worked out eventually.

After Damon had completely sold the story that Charlie had died from her cardiomyopathy, he took her home. He wanted Charlie to come back, and was impatient for her to. He just wanted his Charlie back, his wife back.

He didn't know how long they were in their bed, Charlie's head on his chest, her heart still. Finally, a gasp brought him out of his thoughts, and Charlie sat up straight.

"What? What happened? Where am I?" Charlie demanded, looking around the room, looking for Damon. she found his shirt and grasped it tight. Damon grabbed his wife around the waist and pulled her tightly to him.

Charlie ignored her questions, the ache in her gums, her aching head, and just kissed her husband. She didn't understand what was happening to her, but did understand that Damon had almost lost her- that she had almost lost Damon.

After a few minutes of kissing, Damon pulled away but didn't unwrap his arms from her. "You're changing Char," he murmured into her hair.

Charlie's face was pressed into her husband's chest, and she frowned. "Changing? You mean into a-"

"-a vampire. You're changing into a vampire," Damon finished for her.

Charlie didn't remember being a ghost. She didn't remember asking Damon to change her. but she did remember her decision before her heart failed. She did remember that she wanted to be a vampire. So Charlie wasn't angry at Damon for changing her.

"Okay." She smiled slightly, though inside, she was terrified. "You're going to help me though, right? You're going to teach me how to control my urge to kill?"

"Of course," Damon answered automatically before frowning. "That's it? You're not going to slap me and yell at me that I took the choice away from you?"

Charlie sighed and buried her face deeper into Damon's chest. "I always knew that, deep down, you'd change me. I was just humoring myself to think that'd you just let me die if I didn't want to be a vampire. I know that you'd rather me hate you and be alive, than love you and be dead."

"Well, I'd prefer that you'd love me and be alive. but yeah, you're right," Damon murmured, running a hand through her curls.

Charlie pulled away and smiled up at her husband. "Damon, I decided that I wanted to change before my heart failed," she told him, and his eyebrows shot up.

"You did?"

Charlie nodded. "Mmhmm, so I'm not angry at you for doing something that I already decided on."

Damon was silent as she laid her head back on his chest. "Well, that's good. I said that I'd be okay with you hating me, but that doesn't mean that I want you to," he told her.

Charlie smiled slightly and kissed Damon's jaw. "I love you, you know that?"

"Well, I hope so Char. Because you and I are spending eternity together and it's going to be pretty awkward if you don't."

Charlie giggled and kissed him again, this time his cheek. She was inching closer to his lips. "I love you too," he said after a while, eying Charlie's soft lips.

Damon finally flipped them over and pinned Charlie beneath him. "I can think of one good thing about you becoming a vampire," Damon muttered as he kissed Charlie's neck.

"What's that?" she asked, breathless.

"I don't have to be gentle anymore."

She laughed slightly. "Love, if all the times we've had sex were you being gentle, I want to see you rough."

Damon growled slightly. "I'll be able to show you Rough Damon when you're not so breakable," he muttered against her skin, his fingers skimming her stomach.

Suddenly, Charlie's hunger became too much to control. "Damon, I'm hungry," she whined, causing him to pull away from her neck.

"Of course you are, you're in transition," Damon said. He can't believe that he was stupid enough to forget that she was going through the change, that she was probably starving. He blamed his lust and desire and physical _need _for Charlie. He had allowed it to get the best of him.

"Can I get some food then?" Charlie asked. The ache in her gums was uncomfortable.

"How about I get you some blood instead?"

Charlie gulped slightly. She knew that once she drank the blood, she would be a vampire. She would never, ever be human again. She knew that Damon would eventually force her to drink blood, and that eventually she'd give in, but she needed a few more minutes before she became a vampire.

"Soon, alright? I just want a few more minutes," Charlie murmured, pulling Damon back to her. his lips molded against hers, and her hands quickly unbuttoned his shirt. Damon gave into his lust. Desire, and physical need for his wife, and practically tore her clothes off of her.

Surprisingly, Charlie didn't let Damon be dominant. She flipped them over and rested on Damon's hips, a leg on either side of him. Damon let Charlie take control, because it was hot when she did. Charlie, clad in only her underwear, slowly ran her hands down Damon's chest, heading towards his pants. Damon growled, torn between letting her continue her game and just flipping them back over and taking her. Charlie giggled and kissed Damon.

"You're so impatient," she murmured against his lips, before smirking and teasingly sliding her bra off strap by strap.

"Look who's talking," Damon growled, his eyes glued to his wife and her teasing.

Charlie grinned before finally giving into her own desire. Twenty minutes later, Charlie rested on top of Damon. both were completely naked, and breathless. "You should be on top more often," Damon commented, playing with one of her curls.

"What does my mother think happen to me?" Charlie asked after smirking. Yes, sex was pretty good when she was on top. But sex with Damon was always good.

She buried her face into his neck, waiting for him to answer her question. Damon bit his lip. "Uh, funny story. she thinks you're dead."

"What?"

Charlie sat up straight and frowned at Damon, all after-sex euphoria washing away from her. "Why would she think I'm dead?" she demanded.

"Because I made her," he answered calmly.

Charlie glared. "Damon-" she started to argue, but he cut her off.

"Before you get pissed at me, making Karen think that you died was smart. First, it means that she's out of our marriage for good-" this earned a glare. Damon smirked before continuing. "If she didn't think that you died, she'd eventually notice that you're not aging. that _I'm _not aging. It's safer this way, trust me."

Charlie sighed. She saw his logic. "You're right. It's just… she's my mum, Damon," she mumbled, laying back down on top of him.

"I know," he murmured, brushing her hair out of her face. After a while, he added, "The first century is usually the hardest. It's when all of your human friends and family die. Some vampires go into depression and try to kill themselves, because they don't want to be alone."

"But you won't be alone, Charlie," Damon said meaningfully. "You'll have me."

"I'll have you," she agreed, not minding that at all.

After a while, Charlie stood up and got dressed in Damon's shirt. Damon put on his boxers. "Wait here, and I'll get you some blood," he said, before disappearing.

Charlie sat down on the bed, biting her nails due to her nervousness. She was scared to be a vampire, but she trusted Damon to help her through it. By the time he was done with her, she'd be a badass vampire. Charlie giggled slightly at the thought.

"Here you go," Damon sais, suddenly appearing in front of her with a glass full of blood. Charlie took it, her fear melting away at the thought that Damon would be at her side throughout the entire process.

"Cold feet, Char?" he asked her. Damon knew that he had to be considerate of Charlie's feelings. She had been apprehensive to change in the beginning, he had to make her as comfortable as possible.

She shook her head, a small smile on her lips. "No, mine are toasty warm," she said wiggling her toes. He offered her a small smile.

"Just- don't let me become a monster, okay Damon?" she whispered quietly.

Damon shook his head. "Never."

Charlie took a deep breath, then she gulped down the warm blood, sealing her fate as a vampire.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **only one more chapter left! I think that I'll include a fluffy epilogue for you guys too. I'm sure that I could crank one out. Beware though, it'd be mostly fluff.

Thanks to: LillianaKay2011, SomebodyWhoCares, Lady Syndra, Be My Baby, KimmyWSmith, Samantha meyers, sofiecanwrite, nickiR0x, Stefanie, and .twilight for reviewing!

Reviews are awesome!

~Abby ;)


	30. i just can't help myself

Chapter twenty nine

"_I just can't help myself,"- She Likes (Bittersweet Love) by Forever The Sickest Kids_

"Okay, this is why we're practicing with blood bags."

Damon had been trying to teach Charlie self-control all week. It wasn't coming easily for her, which was frustrating her. Damon assured her that it's never easy for baby vamps, and that as long as she hadn't wiped towns off of the map, she was already doing better than Stefan. It didn't make her feel any better, though.

"Gah!" she exclaimed, throwing the blood bag across the room so that it exploded against the wall. "I'm so thirsty _all the time. _And, I swear, I've suddenly become bipolar." She shot her husband a look. "No cracking jokes about me always being bipolar."

"Char," he tried to calm her down. "Your personality is multiplied a hundred times when you become a vampire. Everything's changing drastically, I know, but you'll adjust."

"But what if I don't?" she muttered. Damon had tried to teach her self-control by having her drink a blood bag, _slowly, _but she always ended up chugging them like they were juice pouches.

"You will," he assured her. "You have forever, Charlie. You'll get the whole vampire thing down, even if it takes a century or two to perfect."

Charlie sighed, her emotions drastically shifting again. Damon assured her that that happened to all vampires, as they struggled to adjust to their new immortality. It was worse with her, though. One minute Charlie would just be regular, normal Charlie. The next she would be a bloodthirsty monster. The next she'd be angry as hell at everybody, especially Damon. then she'd be jumping his bones the next. Now Charlie was starting to become depressed, and this was Damon's least favorite of all of her emotions. He preferred when she was normal, happy Charlie, though horny Charlie would always be his favorite.

"Char," he murmured, pulling her into his arms. Charlie rested her head on his chest and closed her eyes. the one thing that hadn't changed in her while she struggled to adjust to being a vampire, was how much she loved her husband. If anything, that had increased.

"Do you miss me being human?" she whispered suddenly. "Do you miss when you could drink my blood?"

"And have to subconsciously worry about ripping your throat out all the time? Not even a little bit," he told her honestly. He'd miss her blood- it was quite tasty- but he wouldn't miss having to make sure to control himself around her. she was so breakable when she was human. Even now, Charlie still seemed fragile, but she was much more durable than before.

"But I was warm and soft before," she muttered into his shirt.

"You're warm and soft now," he assured her.

"You really don't miss human Charlie?" she asked, hugging him tighter to her, like she was drowning and he was her lifeline.

"Char, you could be Big Bird and I'd still love you," he told her, earning a smile. Slowly, Charlie came out of depression, shifting into…

…horny Charlie.

Charlie slammed Damon onto to the floor and kissed him, hard. Damon was a lot older than her, and could easily take control, but he let Charlie dominate him again. Not only was it hot, but he knew that it made Charlie feel better, to be in control of _something._

"Can you two not have sex on the living room floor?"

Charlie instantly pulled away from Damon and smiled sheepishly at her brother-in-law. "I don't know, Stef. I feel like you're asking for too much." Damon smirked and pulled his wife up off of the ground.

Stefan rolled his eyes, but took in the mess Charlie had made with the blood bags. "I take it that the self-control sessions aren't going too well?" he asked, his eyes going to Charlie.

"She's getting better," Damon said encouragingly, throwing an arm around Charlie's shoulders. Charlie was frowning though, going back into one of her depressed moods.

"You know, I can take you hunting with me. you might get the hang of it better if you build up to human blood," Stefan offered thoughtfully.

Damon snorted. "No," he said. His wife would not become an animal feeding freak like his little brother.

"Actually," Charlie said, slowly smiling. "That sounds like a good idea."

"What?" Damon asked her disbelievingly. "You want to drink _animal blood?"_

"Not permanently," she said quickly. "But it might be easier for me if I start with animal blood and work up to human blood."

Damon sighed and chose to stop arguing. They were both right, and Damon really wanted Charlie to get a handle on her self-control. Plus, she would get a chance to get out of the house, to go hunting with Stefan. Since Charlie was "dead," Damon hadn't allowed her to leave the house yet. She was going stir crazy.

"Fine, whatever you want to do," he said, and she grinned.

"Great, let's go," Charlie said cheerfully, shifting to happy. She grabbed Stefan's arm and practically dragged him out the door in her excitement to get out of the boarding house.

* * *

><p>"You want me to kill a cute little bunny rabbit?"<p>

Charlie glared at her brother-in-law and crossed her arms over her chest. they were in the middle of the woods, as it finally occurred to Charlie what she would be eating.

"What do you think we would be hunting?" Stefan asked, slightly amused.

"I don't know, definitely not something cute and adorable!" she exclaimed, still defiant to kill a little bunny.

Stefan chuckled slightly. "What's so funny?" she snapped, annoyed.

"You're just… you're a little erratic, Charlie. It's kind of funny," he said.

She glowered at him. "Damon already called me his 'crazy, bipolar, vampire wife,'" she muttered.

"All of which you are." Charlie glared at him.

"I'm not killing bunnies, Stefan. End of story," she said stubbornly. Unfortunately, her stubbornness was also amplified when she became a vampire.

"Fine, how about deer?" he offered.

"I'm not killing Bambi or Bambi's mother," she told him, wary.

"How about Bambi's dad?" Stefan asked her.

She bit her lip. "I don't know…"

Stefan sighed, but smiled slightly at her. "The problem is you're too compassionate."

She frowned at him. "I wasn't aware that that's a problem."

"It's not. Damon loves that about you, and so do I. but you have to learn control, Charlie, because if you don't, you'll be ripping out throats. And the best way to learn is to work your way up the food chain. We'll hunt deer, and maybe, if we're lucky, we'll catch a carnivore. They taste the most like humans because they're predators," Stefan told her kindly.

Charlie sighed but nodded. She knew that he was right. "I'm still not killing Bambi's family," she muttered as they ran deeper into the woods.

* * *

><p>"How did hunting go? Did the all the furry animals of the wilderness rise up against you two?"<p>

"Ha-ha. And here I thought that I married you for your nice ass. It turns out you're funny too. How did I get so lucky?" Charlie asked sarcastically, falling into Damon's lap.

"I don't know, you just are," he retorted, before kissing her. Damon's nose wrinkled and he pulled away.

"You taste like squirrels," he told her distastefully.

She smirked at him. "Well, I found them very tasty," she retorted, when, in reality, Charlie found animal blood a poor substitute for human blood. then she beamed when she remembered what had happened during her and Stefan's hunting trip.

"Guess what?" she asked, excited.

"What?" Damon asked, raising an eyebrow.

"We ran across a hiker while we were hunting and I didn't kill him!" she exclaimed, proud of herself. It wasn't that hard actually, controlling herself. The sound of the human's heart pumping blood through his body made her mouth water and her fangs come out, but Charlie knew that killing was wrong and she couldn't even bring herself to think about killing. She let Stefan pull her away without another thought. Charlie's compassion for human life would save her humanity, she knew that now.

"That's great," Damon said, grinning. He was actually very proud of Charlie, and was happy for her. "How about we go out to celebrate?"

Charlie's smile instantly fell from her lips. "I thought that I was supposed to be dead?" she asked, confused.

"Yet I haven't gotten one casserole," Damon retorted. "We'll go to a bar a few towns over."

"You think I'm ready?" she asked, gnawing on her lip.

He nodded honestly. "If it becomes too much, I'll get you out of there before you can do any damage," Damon promised. "Now go get ready, and wear something pretty."

Charlie stuck her tongue out at him before standing up and running up to her room. she was excited to get out, yet she was terrified to put her new found self-control to the test. She trusted Damon's confidence in her, though. She only wished that she had it too.

* * *

><p>"Here, the alcohol will help your thirst," Damon told Charlie, handing her a shot. They sat a bar in a town a few miles away from Mystic Falls.<p>

Charlie did the shot, though she wasn't having nearly as many "eat people" urges as she thought she would. "How are you doing so far?" he asked her, obviously concerned.

"I'm doing good. I'll tell you when I feel the urge to drain our bartender dry," Charlie said with a small smile.

Damon frowned. "Please don't eat him, he's such a tool."

Charlie laughed and kissed her husband. "I don't know, he looks tasty," she teased, finding Damon's jealousy amusing.

Damon frowned at her. "You're not funny," he told her, stealing one of her shots.

"I'm hilarious," she countered, doing more shots. She hadn't had alcohol since she was a teenager, because of her cardiomyopathy. She was excited that she had that freedom back.

Damon frowned, suddenly realizing this. "Let's slow down with the shots, Char. Just because you're a hot vampire now doesn't mean you can't get drunk and get really awful hangovers," he told her, taking her remaining shots away.

Suddenly, a familiar scent hit the air and Damon stiffened. He knew that scent. "He's here," Damon growled, turning around and looking around the bar.

Sure enough, Jason sat in a corner booth, flirting with the waitresses. He met Damon's eyes and stiffened. When he saw Charlie, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Charlie narrowed her eyes at him, knowing that he was the one who had killed her.

"I'll be right back," Damon told his wife, standing up as Jason ran from the bar. Damon walked after him, enjoying the thoughts of ripping his heart out that passed through his mind. Charlie followed her husband, and caught up with him in time to see him pin Jason against a wall in the back alley.

"I killed you!" he choked out, meeting Charlie's gaze, as her husband's hand wrapped around his neck.

"Yeah, thanks for that," she said sarcastically. Despite her compassion for life, she didn't mind Damon killing Jason. The werewolf had killed her, so it was only fair that Damon return the favor.

Jason's eyes widened. "You're a vampire," he whispered, not realizing that those were his last words.

Damon smirked at Jason before plunging his hand into his chest and tearing his heart out. He dropped his heart to the ground, next to Jason's body. Damon wiped his hand clean on Jason's shirt then turned to Charlie.

"Well, now that's taken care of," he said, throwing an arm around his wife's shoulders.

"We should renew our vows," Charlie murmured as they walked back to the bar.

Damon smirked. "I wouldn't mind that," he told her, before kissing the top of her head.

"In the Bahamas," she added.

"Charlie, we have forever. We can renew our vows as many times as you want," Damon told her, before pulling her in for a kiss.

Damon was right. He and Charlie had forever now, and she couldn't wait to start it.

**The end**

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **I'm going to have a sweet, fluffy epilogue, just so you guys know.

Thanks to: Partiq, SomebodyWhoCares, Lady Syndra, Be My Baby, KimmyWSmith, sofiecanwrite, and LiliannaKay2011 for reviewing!

Review!

~Abby :)


	31. epilogue

Epilogue

Charlie stared at her headstone, fresh poppies placed at her grave. A few years had passed since her "death" and still, her mother came to her grave once a week and put flowers at her grave. She still hated that her parents thought she was dead, but it was all for the best.

"'Charlotte Marie Salvatore,'" a voice from behind her read her name off of her headstone. "She died so young, a real shame. And of a heart disease, too. I heard her husband was pretty hot, though."

She grinned. "Maybe so, but he was an arrogant asshole when he wanted to be," she teased, turning around.

"Ouch." Damon fake winced before smiling at his wife and opening his arms. She immediately ran into them and he hugged her tightly.

"I knew that I'd find you here," he murmured into her hair. "I got to say Char, it's a little creepy that you spend so much time at your own grave."

"I like to see if people to visit me," she mumbled into his jacket. They were in the Kingston cemetery, where Charlie had been "buried." In reality, there was no body in the coffin in the ground. It was empty.

"I missed you," Charlie murmured, and Damon kissed her forehead. They had been apart for a week- longer than they had ever been apart before. It didn't help that Charlie had become slightly co-dependent as a vampire.

Damon had been back in Mystic Falls, checking out to see if people still remembered her. they had been forced to leave because people thought that she was dead, so it would be a real shocker to see her still kicking. Charlie opted to visit Kingston and see how her mother was doing. Her father had died a few months ago, a heart attack. Charlie had taken it pretty hard, especially since she was a vampire and her emotions were heightened. She and Damon managed to go to the funeral, though.

"I missed you too, Char. But I have good news and a surprise. What do you want first?" Damon asked.

"Is it a happy surprise?" she asked warily.

"Well, I sure hope so," he answered with a slight smile.

"News first then surprise," Charlie said, pulling away from Damon and crossing her arms over her chest.

"Let's go get something to eat first," Damon said, grabbing her hand.

"Like human food or vampire food?" she asked, frowning as Damon pulled her to his Camaro.

"A little bit of both," he responded with a smirk.

Charlie hadn't killed yet, for which she was proud of. She had come close a few times, but either Damon or herself stopped her before she did. Charlie had fed from a human a couple of times, though she wasn't completely comfortable with that. Charlie preferred blood bags.

"What's the good news?" she asked, bouncing impatiently in her seat.

"Relax, Charlie," Damon told her casually. "I'll tell you when we get there."

Charlie glared but didn't argue. She fell asleep in the passenger seat, and was shaken awake by Damon half an hour later.

"Charlie, unless you want me to carry you through security again, wake up," Damon said into her ear.

Charlie groaned and sat up. "Where are we?" she asked, rubbing her eyes.

Damon smirked at her and opened the car door for her. "The airport."

Her eyebrows shot up. "Where _is _this restaurant we're going to?" she asked.

"The Bahamas," he answered with a smirk.

Charlie's eyes widened and a huge grin formed on her lips. "We're going to the Bahamas again?" she exclaimed, excited. They had yet to go back there, and Charlie couldn't wait. Now that she was able to have wild, crazy sex over and over again without putting stress on her heart, she was sure that Damon wouldn't let her leave the bedroom.

"We are," Damon said, grabbing the bags from the trunk that he had secretly packed. He was pleased by Charlie's reaction- he loved making her happy.

"Is that my surprise?" Charlie asked as they walked into the airport.

"No, it's not. Think of this as a gift," Damon said, a smirk coming to his lips when he thought about her surprise. He hoped that she would like it.

Charlie groaned as Damon went to buy their tickets. One thing hadn't changed about her when she became a vampire- Charlie still hated surprises.

* * *

><p>As soon as they reached the beach house they had lived in their last visit to the Bahamas, Charlie jumped into Damon's arms and kissed him roughly. Screw his good news and surprise, Charlie wanted him, so Charlie was going to get him.<p>

They didn't even make it into the house. Damon dropped their bags onto the ground and pinned Charlie beneath him. since she had become a vampire, Damon had become much rougher with Charlie when it came to their sex life. He didn't torture her, though. It wasn't like BDSM- they weren't _that_ kinky when it came to the bedroom. Charlie liked it, though. She got rough with Damon, too.

Damon practically ripped her dress off, his hand grazing the daylight necklace around her neck that Bonnie had made her. Charlie allowed Damon to take control, and they had sex right on the front porch. There was something about the Bahamas that made Charlie and Damon's sex life much more kinkier.

After a few more rounds, the couple found themselves naked and in the living room. "So, what's your good news?" Charlie asked, on top of her husband. He ran his hand through her wild mess of dark curls before answering.

"We can go back to Mystic Falls now," he said, tracing patterns in soft, pale skin. Charlie frowned slightly, her arms wrapped around her husband's neck.

"I've already been forgotten?" she asked disbelievingly. It had only been a few years- there had to be somebody there that remembered her.

"Well, I helped." Damon shrugged, and Charlie's frown deepened.

"You compelled people to forget me?"

"And it was not an easy task," Damon responded, flipping them over. "I know how much you miss everyone and want to go back there, so I decided to speed up the forgetting process."

She smiled slightly up at him. "Thank you," she murmured, touched. It seemed that Damon was willing to do just about anything to make her happy. It made her love him even more. "I love you."

"I know." He smirked before kissing her. "I love you too."

"What's my surprise?" Charlie asked, pulling away and running a hand through Damon's hair.

"I'll tell you after round five," Damon mumbled against her lips. Suddenly, he ran them across the room and pinned Charlie against the wall. She smirked and wrapped her legs around his waist.

"Wall sex- my favorite," she breathed as Damon kissed her neck.

After wall sex, the couple finally made it to their bedroom. Charlie was in Damon's shirt and he was wearing his boxers. She rested her head against his chest and waited impatiently for him to tell her what her surprise was.

Her eyes traveled to her left hand and her hazel eyes widened when she saw that her wedding ring was missing. "Oh my god," she breathed, sitting up. "My ring!"

Charlie loved that ring, and now it was gone, probably for good. Damon seemed unperturbed, though. "Relax, Char. I have your ring," he said, holding out her wedding ring.

Charlie breathed a sigh of relief before frowning. "Why do you have my wedding ring?" she asked, confused.

Suddenly, Damon appeared in front of her, on one knee. "Charlotte Salvatore, will you marry me? again?" he asked, suddenly very serious.

She suddenly realized that that was her surprise. Damon wanted to remarry her. she beamed down at her husband. Oh, she loved him so much, and they had forever to spend together. Forever to fill with trips to the Bahamas and remarriage proposals.

"Yes," Charlie breathed without a second thought. "Yes, I'll marry you. Again."

**The end**

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **I can't tell you guys how sad I am that this story's over. I swear, I get too attached to my stories. Every time I finish one I feel like I'm sending a kid off to college or something.

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, and alerted this story. it means a lot :)

Now excuse me while I go and cry because this story's over.

~Abby :(


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